LIBRARY 

NIVERSE  OF 

CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


GERMANY 


SEEN   WITHOUT   SPECTACLES 


RANDOM    SKETCHES    OF    VARIOUS    SUBJECTS 
PENNED    FROM    DIFFERENT   STAND- 
POINTS   IN    THE    EMPIRE 


HESTKY    RTJGGLES 

LATE  UNITED  STATES  CONSUL  AT  THE   ISLAND  OF  MALTA  AND 
BARCELONA,  SPAIN 


BOSTON 
LEE    AND   SHEPARD,  47   FRANKLIN    STREET 

NEW   YORK 

CHARLES  T.  DILLINGHAM,  678  BROADWAY 
1883 


COPYRIGHT 

.S83 
BY    LEE    AND    SHEPARI> 


ALL   RIGHTS    RESERVED 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  by 
ALFRED  Mi  DOE  &  SON,  PRINTERS,  BOSTON. 


TO   MY   DAUGHTER 


Annie  LOUI$G 


WHO   FOR    MANY    YEARS    HAS  BEEN   MY  COMPANION    ABROAD,  AND  WHO 

HAS  SHARED  WITH   ME  THE    PLEASURES  AS  WELL  AS   THE    DIS- 

COMFORTS OF   TRAVEL   IN    MANY  FOREIGN    LANDS,  THIS 

VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED  BY   HER 

FATHER 


INTRODUCTORY, 


German  travellers,  as  well  as  English  and 
French,  who  have  had  the  courage  to  cross  the  Atlantic 
for  the  sake  of  seeing  what  sort  of  a  country  America 
is,  and  what  sort  of  a  people  inhabit  it,  have  written 
letters  to  their  friends  and  newspapers  in  the  old 
country,  and  have  even  had  the  audacity  to  publish 
books,  which  have  been  anything  but  complimentary  to 
America  or  Americans  in  their  criticisms  and  descrip- 
tions of  American  characteristics,  and  of  the  habits 
and  customs  of  the  people.  To  do  this  they  have  a 
perfect  right.  Free  discussions  and  criticisms  even  if 
carried  on  by  the  pen,  in  describing  any  nation's  pecul- 
iarities and  shortcomings,  are  considered  allowable  and 
legitimate,  and  often  are  the  means  of  correcting  many 
social  evils  and  absurdities  which  nothing  but  the  pen 
can  improve  or  exterminate.  The  severe  castigations 
which  Americans  received  through  the  books  written  on 
America  by  Dickens,  Trollope,  and  other  writers,  al- 
though read  by  many  with  indignation  and  humiliation, 
yet  undoubtedly  were  beneficial  as  the  means  of  dis- 
pelling a  large  amount  of  foolish  national  egotism  and 
banishing  many  absurd  customs  and  ridiculous  practices 
which  had  before  existed. 

In  travelling  through  Germany  Americans  should  have 
the  same  right  to  criticise  and  discuss  German  people, 
customs,  habits,  and  peculiarities,  as  the  German  or  any 


VI  INTRODUCTORY. 

foreigner  has  while  travelling  in  America  to  criticise  and 
discuss  us  and  ours.  In  writing  he  cannot  confine  his  at- 
tention exclusively  to  the  picture  galleries,  museums,  art 
schools,  palaces,  castles,  music,  etc.,  for  which  the  country 
is  famous,  but  he  must  be  pardoned  if  he  occasionally 
turns  aside  from  these  familiar  sights,  scenes,  and  sub- 
jects, which  all  travellers  write  about,  and,  going  behind 
the  scenes,  gives  vivid  and  truthful  pictures  of  every-day 
German  life;  of  the  degradation  of  German  peasant- 
women  as  seen  in  the  fields  and  the  streets ;  of  beer-drink- 
ing ;  the  small  remuneration  for  labor  of  all  kinds  ;  student 
life  in  the  universities;  students'  duels;  kneips  and  beer 
orgies ;  German  cooking  and  eating ;  cost  of  living,  etc. 

Some  of  the  chapters  in  this  book  may  be  severely 
criticised  as  being  exaggerated,  and  branded  as  un- 
warranted departures  from  the  actual  facts,  but  such 
criticisms  will  come  from  those  who  are  but  slightly  ac- 
quainted with  German  life,  and  whose  opportunities  to 
study  and  observe  the  habits  of  the  people,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  working  classes,  have  been  very  limited, 
if  not  entirely  neglected. 

If  the  Germans  do  love  beer,  and  do  drink  a  great  deal 
of  it,  yet  beer-drinking  is  not  the  national  curse  to  Ger- 
many that  whiskey-drinking  is  to  America.  In  the  latter 
country  there  are  probably  twenty  drunkards  to  one  in 
Germany,  where  to  see  a  man  in  the  streets  or  elsewhere 
under  the  influence  of  strong  drinks  is  a  rare  exception, 
without  it  may  be  in  the  university  towns,  where  the 
students  drink  to  excess  in  their  clubs  and  beer-halls. 

The  statistics  of  crime  in  the  two  countries  would 
show  a  remarkable  disproportion,  as  there  are  probably 
four  crimes  committed  and  an  equal  number  of  arrests 
made  in  the  United  States  to  one  in  Germany.  This  is 
owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  free  use  of  alcoholic 


INTRODUCTORY.  Vll 

stimulants  and  the  laxity  of  the  laws  in  the  United 
States,  which  allow  so  many  criminals  guilty  of  large 
and  petty  crimes  to  go  unpunished.  In  Germany,  as  has 
been  said,  drunkenness  is  rare,  and  the  laws  on  the  stat- 
ute books  are  not  dead  letters,  but  are  enforced  to  their 
fullest  extent  with  vigor  and  despatch.  And,  as  a  rule, 
the  Germans  are  the  most  honest  people  in  the  world. 
Petty  thieving  and  petty  crimes  of  any  kind  among 
servants  or  among  the  lower  orders  of  society  are 
unfrequent  and  of  rare  occurrence.  Defalcations  by 
bank  officials  or  by  the  officials  of  moneyed  institu- 
tions seldom  happen  or  are  seldom  heard  of.  If  the 
moneys  or  securities  of  a  bank  disappear  through  the 
speculative  mania  or  the  spendthrift  proclivities  of  a 
dishonest  president,  cashier,  or  clerk,  there  is  no  evading 
the  full  penalties  of  the  law.  Wealth,  respectability, 
title,  or  the  pleadings  and  petitions  of  aristocratic  and 
influential  friends  and  relatives,  are  of  no  avail.  Judges 
and  juries  cannot  be  bought  or  bribed,  but  the  convicted 
felon  who  has  trangressed  the  law  is  sure  to  surfer  for 
his  crimes,  and  rare  is  the  exception  where  one  is  par- 
doned before  his  full  sentence  is  served. 

When  the  laws  in  the  United  States  are  enforced  with 
the  same  promptness  and  certainty  that  they  are  in  Ger- 
many, without  reference  to  the  social  position  of  the  cul- 
prit or  his  friends,  then  shall  we  see  less  robbing  of 
banks,  corporations,  and  trust  institutions  by  "  respect- 
able "  officials,  and  less  crimes  of  every  variety  by  the 
criminally  inclined. 

While  the  American  finds  much  to  admire  in  Ger- 
many, in  its  music,  in  its  wonderful  treasures  of  art,  in 
the  thorough  manner  in  which  its  railways  and  all  its 
public  works  and  buildings  are  constructed,  in  the  strict 
and  impartial  administering  of  its  laws,  in  the  trait  of 


Viii  INTRODUCTORY. 

the  German  nature  which  compels  him  to  do  everything 
so  thoroughly  that  he  undertakes,  and  in  the  Germans 
themselves,  who  have  the  faculty  of  enjoying  life  to  its 
fullest  extent  more  than  any  other  nationality,  yet  he 
sees  much  that  he  would  wish  to  improve,  much  that  he 
would  wish  to  abolish,  and  much  that  convinces  him  that 
many  of  the  ingredients,  if  it  may  be  so  expressed, 
which  should  make  a  nation  great  —  a  model  nation  — 
are  wanting. 

Its  enormous  standing  army  of  half  a  million  of  men  is 
undoubtedly  a  curse  to  the  country,  a  millstone  about  its 
neck,  which  absorbs  the  talent  of  the  country  and  the 
flower  of  its  youth.  It  demoralizes  the  dignity  of  labor 
and  produces  a  military  aristocracy  that  shuns  labor  and 
ignores  all  trades  and  professions  and  those  engaged  in 
them.  But  the  blackest  picture  of  all  to  an  American  in 
Germany,  the  one  that  has  the  darkest  background,  is  the 
degradation  of  the  women  of  the  lower  classes.  To  see 
these  poor  creatures,  many  of  them  feeble  and  tottering 
with  old  age,  working  and  toiling  in  the  fields  like  bond 
slaves  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  shovelling,  hoeing,  and 
digging,  supplying  the  places  of  work-horses  or  mules 
in  dragging  heavy  loads  through  the  streets  and  over  the 
country  roads,  toiling  and  bending  beneath  enormous 
burdens  on  their  heads  or  shoulders,  is  it  a  wonder  that 
Americans  can  witness  a  degradation  that  is  in  such 
contrast  to  the  way  women  are  treated  in  America, 
without  exclaiming,  "  Can  this  be  a  civilized  country, 
and  can  this  be  the  nineteenth  century  "  ? 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGB 

ARRIVAL  AT  HEIDELBERG.  —  AN  INQUISITIVE  FELLOW-TRAVELLER. 

—  CONFUSED  IDEAS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  —  BRIEF  HISTORY 
OF  THE  OLD  CASTLE,  —  WHAT  MAKES  HEIDELBERG  ATTRACT- 
IVE.—  SIGHTS  FROM  MY  HOTEL  WINDOW.  —  A  MODEL  VEGE- 
TABLE GARDEN.  —  WOMAN'S  LABOR  AND  MAN'S  INDIFFERENCE. 

—  THE  GRAY  MARE  THE  BETTER  HORSE  OF  THE  Two       .  i 


CHAPTER  II. 

DUELLING  AT  HEIDELBERG.  —  THE  UNIVERSITY  FIGHTING  CLUBS. 

—  BRUTAL   SWORD  COMBATS  BETWEEN  GERMAN  STUDENTS. 

—  A  PASTIME  MORE  BARBAROUS  THAN  THE  BULL-FIGHTS  OF 
SPAIN      .       .       .        .       .       . 10 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIRES  IN  EUROPEAN   CITIES.  —  UNFREQUENCY  OF  FIRES  ABROAD. 

—  FIRE-PROOF  BUILDINGS.  —  How  FIRE  ALARMS  ARE  GIVEN. 

—  GOING  TO  A  FIRE  IN  THE  GERMAN  CITY  OF  HEIDELBERG. — 
FIREMEN  WHO  WAIT  TO  PUT  ON  THEIR   UNIFORMS,  SHAVE, 
AND  BLACK  THEIR  BOOTS  BEFORE  ANSWERING  A  FlRE  ALARM. 

—  PREPARATIONS  FOR  PUTTING  OUT  A  FIRE.  —  Too  LATE  26 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BFER-DRINKING  IN  GERMANY.  —  BEER  AS  AN  ELEMENT  IN  UNI- 
VERSITY LIFE.  —  DRINKING-BOUTS  OF  STUDENTS  AND  PROFESS- 
ORS. —  KNEIPS  AND  BEER  ORGIES.  —  A  FIGHT  IN  A  BEER- 
SHOP. —  THE  FARCE  OF  AMERICAN  STUDENTS  GOING  ABROAD 
TO  ATTEND  GERMAN  UNIVERSITIES 42 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   V. 

PAGE 

THE  EUROPEAN  SARATOGA.  —  BADEN-BADEN  AND  ITS  LOAFING 
ROYALTY.  —  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THIS  FAMOUS  GERMAN 
RESORT.  —  GOING  TO  CHURCH  WITH  AN  EMPRESS.  —  ENGLISH 
CHAPELS  AND  CHURCH  SERVICE  ON  THE  CONTINENT.  —  CHAP- 
LAINS NOT  NOTED  FOR  PlETY  OR  MORALITY.  —  THE  WEALTH 

OF  THE  GRAND  DUKE  OF  BADEN 56 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MORE  GLIMPSES  OF  LIFE  AT  BADEN-BADEN. —  PRECAUTIONS  TAKEN 
TO  SAVE  THE  EMPEROR  FROM  ASSASSINATION.  —  PRINCE  GORT- 
SCHAKOFF.  —  A  GENTLEMAN  FROM  FIJI.  —  A  HORSE-RACE 

BEFORE     THE    EMPEROR  AND    EMPRESS,  IN    WHICH    A     PRINCE 

AND  A  GRAND  DUKE  COME  IN  FIRST  AND  SECOND.  —  No  EN- 
THUSIASM        69 

CHAPTER   VII. 

WURTEMBERG. —  ITS  KlNG  AND  NOBILITY.  —  A  POCKET  KINGDOM 
SCARCELY  RECOGNIZABLE  ON  THE  MAPS.  —  THE  PAY  THAT  ROY- 
ALTY AND  THE  NOBILITY  RECEIVE.  —  GERMAN  BOOK-KEEPING. 

—  WHERE  THE  MONEY  COMES  FROM.  —  THE  KING'S  PALACES. 

—  STUTTGART,  THE  CAPITAL       .       .       .       ...        .        .82 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
MUSICAL  GERMANY.  —  THE   CONSERVATOIRE  AT  STUTTGART.  —  A 

ClTY   GIVEN  OVER  TO    THE  DISCORDS  OF   MUSICAL   PRACTICE. — 

How  THE  CONCEIT  is  TAKEN  OUT  OF  AMERICAN  PRODIGIES 
WHO  GO  TO  GERMANY  TO  FINISH  THEIR  MUSICAL  EDUCATION. 

—  CONCERTS   AT  THE   LIEDERHALLE.  —  BEER,    Music,    AND 
LUNCHES  COMBINED 94 

CHAPTER  IX. 

FREE  Music  AND  CHEAP  Music  IN  GERMANY.  —  CARL'S  BAND 
AND  ITS  DAILY  CONCERTS.  —  No  MUSICAL  TRAMPS.  —  AMERI- 
CAN MELODIES  DOMESTICATED  IN  THE  COUNTRY.  —  PLAYING 
"  DIXIE,"  "  YANKEE  DOODLE,"  "  WHEN  JOHNNIE  COMES 
MARCHING  HOME,"  "  MARCHING  THROUGH  GEORGIA,"  ETC., 
BEFORE  THE  EMPEROR  AT  A  REVIEW.  —  MUSIC  FROM  THE 
CHURCH  TOWERS  ...  .  102 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER   X. 

PAGE 

Music,  BEER,  AND  SAUER-KRAUT,  THE  THREE  LOVES  OF  GER- 
MANY.—  THE  OMNIPRESENT  CABBAGE.  —  SEARCHING  FOR  A 
BOARDING- HOUSE,  —  SOME  REALISTIC  GERMAN  ART.  —  THE 
PARADISE  OF  DIFFERENT  RELIGIOUS  SECTS,  NATIONALITIES, 

ETC.  ....   Ill 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  GERMAN  LABORER  AND  HIS  HIRE.  —  THF.  DEGRADATION 
HEAPED  UPON  WOMEN  OF  THE  LOWER  CLASS.  —  A  SERVI- 
TUDE MORE  DEGRADING  THAN  SLAVERY.  —  WAGES  PAID  ME- 
CHANICS, AGRICULTURAL  LABORERS,  AND  HOUSE  SERVANTS. 
—  COST  OF  LIVING  .  119 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ROMANCE  IN  REAL  LIFE.  —  STRANGELY  INTERESTING  CAREER  OF 
A  YOUNG  AMERICAN,  NOW  PRIVY  COUNCILLOR  AND  BOSOM 
FRIEND  OF  THE  KING  OF  WURTEMBERG. —  FROM  A  FARM  TO 
A  CONSULATE,  AND  FROM  A  CONSULATE  TO  A  PALACE. — 
ORDERS  AND  DECORATIONS  BESTOWED  BY  CROWNED  HEADS. 
—  THE  AMERICAN  COLONY  IN  STUTTGART  ....  128 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  ART  TREASURES  OF  MUNICH.  —  A  GLIMPSE  AT  THE  PICTURE 
GALLERIES.  —  "ORIGINALS"  BY  THE  "OLD  MASTERS."  —  A 
VISIT  TO  THE  FAMOUS  BRONZE  AND  IRON  FOUNDRIES  AND 
STAINED-GLASS  WORKS.  —  THE  NATIONAL  MUSEUM  AND  THE 
RICHES  OF  THE  KING'S  PALACE 140 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  BAVARIAN  CAPITAL.  — ITS  TREASURES  OF  ART  AND  ARCHI- 
TECTURE.—  THE  BAVARIAN  KINGS  THE  GREATEST  PATRONS 
OF  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES.  —  THE  ECCENTRIC  KlNG  LOUIS, 
A  ROYAL  CRANK.  —  His  LOVE  OF  Music.  —  STORIES  OF  HIS 
ECCENTRICITIES  — THE  KING  AND  THE  NIGHTINGALE  .  .  151 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XV. 

PAGE 

GLIMPSES  OF  LIFE  IN  BAVARIA. — A  VISIT  TO  HOHENLINDEN. — 
"  ON  LINDEN  WHEN  THE  SUN  WAS  LOW."  —  BEHIND  THE 
SCENES  AT  OBERAMMERGAU.  —  EVERY-DAY  LIFE  OF  THE 
ACTORS  IN  THE  PASSION  PLAY.  —  How  THE  REVENUES  OF 
THE  BAVARIAN  KINGDOM  ARE  OBTAINED.  —  THE  CEMETERY 
AT  MUNICH 162 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  HOFBRAUHAUS  AT  MUNICH.  —  DAILY  SCENES  AT  THE  ROYAL 
BREWERY,  WHERE  THIRSTY  BEER-DRINKERS  QUENCH  THEIR 
THIRST.  —  BEER-DRINKERS  FORMING  IN  LINE  WITH  THEIR 
BEER-MUGS,  WAITING  TO  BE  SERVED.  —  THE  PRICE  OF  BEER 
DAILY  REGULATED  BY  QUOTATIONS  FROM  THE  HOP  MARKET  .  173 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  NATIONAL  DRINK  OF  GERMANY.  —  SOME  STATISTICS  OF  THE 
ENORMOUS  AMOUNT  OF  BEER  MADE  AND  DRANK  IN  THE 
KINGDOM  OF  WURTEMBERG.  —  AND  YET  BAVARIA  TAKES  THE 
LEAD  IN  BOTH.  —  EXTRAORDINARY  FEATS  OF  BEER-DRINKING. 
—  BEER  DUELS  OF  UNIVERSITY  STUDENTS  ....  185 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

GLIMPSES  OF  GERMANY.  —  FROM  MUNICH  TO  BERLIN.  —  MONOT- 
ONY OF  CONTINENTAL  TRAVELLING.  —  SCENERY  FROM  A  CAR 
WINDOW.  —  How  THE  GERMAN  RAILWAYS  ARE  MANAGED. — 
A  SYSTEM  AS  PERFECT  AS  CLOCK-WORK.  —  THE  WAGES  PAID 
EMPLOYES.  —  PASSENGERS  CARRIED  AT  FIRST,  SECOND,  THIRD, 
AND  FOURTH  CLASS  RATES.  —  EMIGRATION  AND  THE  LABOR 
PROBLEMS.  —  WILL  THE  PROPHECY  OF  MALTHUS  EVER  BE 
FULFILLED? 191 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

BERLIN  AND  ITS  MONUMENTS.  —  ITS  PALACES  AND  ART  TREAS- 
URES.—  PARIS  AND  BERLIN  AS  ART  CENTRES.  —  A  VISIT  TO 
THE  OLD  SCHLOSS.  —  ITS  MAGNIFICENT  SUITES  OF  APART- 
MENTS. —  ITS  THRONE  ROOMS,  PICTURE  GALLERIES,  BALL 
AND  RECEPTION  ROOMS,  WITH  THEIR  SPLENDID  DECORATIONS 
AND  PRICELESS  CONTENTS 203 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

CHAPTER  XX. 

PAGE 

MORE  OF  PRUSSIA'S  ROYAL  SHOW-HOUSES.  —  PALACES  AT  POTS- 
DAM. —  BABELSBERG.  —  THE  MARBLE  PALACE.  —  THE  NEW 
PALACE.  —  ROYAL  PALACE.  —  SANS-SOUCI,  ETC.  —  INTERIOR 
MAGNIFICENCE.  —  SOUVENIRS  AND  REMINISCENCES  OF  "OLD 
FRITZ." — A  SECRET  BANQUET  HALL. —  THE  COFFINS  OF 
FREDERICK  THE  GREAT  AND  HIS  BRUTAL  FATHER  .  .  .  215 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

KAISER  WILLIAM.  —  CELEBRATION  OF  HIS  EIGHTY-FIFTH  BIRTH- 
DAY AT  BERLIN.  —  PUBLIC  REJOICINGS  THROUGHOUT  THE  EM- 
PIRE.—  ANECDOTE  OF  His  MAJESTY.  —  His  VISIT  TO  AN  OR- 
PHAN ASYLUM.  —  BISMARCK  AND  GEN.  VON  MOLTKE.  —  THE 
RECEPTION  OF  THE  LATTER  AT  A  Swiss  HOTEL  .  .  .  229 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE  DRESDEN  PICTURE  GALLERY.  —  ITS  WONDERFUL  COLLECTION 
OF  PAINTINGS-  —  STORY  OF  THE  SISTINE  MADONNA.  —  FEMALE 
MODELS  WHO  SAT  FOR  SCRIPTURE  REPRESENTATIONS  NOT 
ALWAYS  OF  THE  MOST  VIRTUOUS  REPUTATION. —  HOLBEIN'S 
MADONNA.  —  "ORIGINALS"  FROM  THE  "OLD  MASTERS"  GET- 
TING MIXED  UP  AND  CONFOUNDED  WITH  COPIES.  —  HOW 

IRREVERENT  AMERICAN  YOUTHS  "  DO"  THE  FOREIGN  PICTURE 
GALLERIES 242 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ORDER  OF  THE  GARTER.  —  SAXONY'S  KING  INVESTED  WITH  ITS 
GORGEOUS  INSIGNIA.  —  OSTENTATIOUS  PROCESSION  OF  ROY- 
ALTY AND  NOBILITY. —  THE  CEREMONIES  REMINDING  ONE 
OF. A  SCENE  FROM  ONE  OF  SHAKESPEARE'S  PLAYS.  —  SIGNIFI- 
CANCE OF  THE  GIFT.  —  HISTORY  OF  THE  ORDER  .  .  .  254 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AMERICANS  ABROAD. — TOURIST  TRAMPS  FROM  ACROSS  THE  AT- 
LANTIC.—  SELF-EXILED  AMERICANS. —  PEOPLE  WITH  MORE 
MONEY  THAN  CHARACTER.  —  CONFESSIONS  OF  MATRIMONIAL 
EXILES.  —  FONDNESS  OF  GERMAN  OFFICERS  FOR  AMERICAN 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

DINNERS  AND  AMERICAN  GIRLS.  —  AMBITIOUS  AND  INTRIGU- 
ING AMERICAN  MOTHERS.  —  THE  SAD  FATE  OF  AMERICAN 
GIRLS  WHO  MARRY  FOREIGN  TITLES 265 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

SLEEPING  AND  EATING  IN  GERMANY.  —  FAULT-FINDING,  GRUM- 
BLING AMERICAN  TRAVELLERS  — SHORT  AND  NARROW  BEDS. 
—  NOT  SATISFIED  WITH  GERMAN  COOKING.  —  FRENCH  COOK- 
ING  AT  THE  HOTELS.  —  COST  OF  LIVING  IN  GERMAN  PENSIONS 
AND  FAMILIES.  —  BREAKFAST,  LUNCH,  AND  DINNER  .  .  277 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  SUGAR-BEET  IN  GERMANY.  —  HISTORY  OF  ITS  CULTIVATION 
IN  EUROPE.  —  THE  PROCESS  OF  MANUFACTURE  OF  BEET 
SUGAR.  —  STATISTICS  OF  THE  QUANTITY  MADE  IN  DIFFERENT 
EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES. —  COST  OF  MAKING  AND  COST  OF 
MACHINERY  FOR  ITS  MANUFACTURE 286 


GERMANY  SEEN  WITHOUT  SPECTACLES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ARRIVAL  AT  HEIDELBERG.  —  AN  INQUISITIVE  FELLOW-TRAV- 
ELLER.—  CONFUSED  IDEAS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. — 
BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE  OLD  CASTLE.  —  WHAT  MAKES 
HEIDELBERG  ATTRACTIVE.  —  SIGHTS  FROM  MY  HOTEL 
WINDOW.  —  A  MODEL  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  —  WOMAN'S 
LABOR  AND  MAN'S  INDIFFERENCE. —  THE  GRAY  MARE 
THE  BETTER  HORSE  OF  THE  TWO. 

IT  was  after  midnight  when  our  train  from  Ge- 
neva, via  Bale,  rolled  into  the  splendid  rail- 
way station  at  Heidelberg.  A  German  of  middle 
age,  with  broad  shoulders  and  Falstaff  propor- 
tions, who  had  been  my  fellow-traveller  from  the 
latter  city,  and  who  spoke  English  imperfectly, 
had  kept  me  awake  for  several  hours  by  inform- 
ing me  of  the  names  of  all  the  towns  we  passed 
through  and  asking  me  all  manner  of  questions 
about  America  and  its  people,  as  if  I  had  been  a 
living  encyclopaedia.  What  sort  of  a  climate  had 
we?  Were  the  seasons  long  or  short?  Could 
we  make  good  beer  ?  he  had  heard  not.  Were 
the  Indians  and  buffaloes  still  prowling  around 
our  cities  and  seaports  ?  Were  our  people  much 


2  AN    INQUISITIVE    FELLOW  TRAVELLER. 

civilized  ?  he  had  his  doubts.  Did  the  murders 
in  our  country  average  a  thousand  a  day,  as  he 
had  seen  it  estimated  in  some  of  their  papers  ? 
Were  our  cities  and  towns  destroyed  by  fire 
every  three  or  four  years,  as  he  had  been  told  ? 
Had  we  as  many  miles  of  railway  in  the  United 
States  as  they  have  in  Germany,  and  was  it  true 
that  our  railways  were  so  insecurely  built  and  so 
carelessly  managed  that  travellers  insure  their 
lives  before  venturing  upon  them  ?  Did  we  have 
negro  governors  and  Presidents  ?  Was  it  true 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  descendant  of  an 
Indian  chief?  Were  we  a  musical  nation? 

It  would  be  difficult  to  chronicle  all  the  strange 
questions  that  this  inquisitive  and  apparently  half- 
educated  German  asked  me,  and  whose  knowledge 
of  the  United  States  and  its  people  was  as  crude 
as  if  he  had  been  a  native  of  Madagascar.  When 
I  told  him  that  we  had  more  miles  of  railway  in 
our  country  than  they  had  in  the  whole  of 
Europe,  the  man  looked  at  me  with  astonishment 
and  incredulity.  Squaring  his  bulky  form  around, 
he  surveyed  me  from  head  to  foot,  and  in  a  sol- 
emn, surprised  voice  exclaimed,  — 

"  Mein  Gott !  ish  dat  possible !  " 

He  had  a  vague,  visionary  idea  of  the  size  of 
the  United  States;  he  acknowledged  that  he  had 
read  or  heard  but  little  about  it ;  he  was  afraid  he 
had  been  misinformed  about  many  things.  Was 
it  as  large  as  Germany,  or  Belgium,  or  Russia  ? 


APPROACHING    HEIDELBERG.  3 

Then  he  was  more  astonished  than  ever  by  my 
telling  him  that  we  had  thirty-eight  States  and 
ten  Territories,  and  that  one  of  these  States  was 
as  large  as  all  Germany,  with  nearly  a  third  of  the 
Austrian  Empire  added  to  it. 

11  Mein  Gott !  vot  a  country  you  have  !  "  was  his 
exclamation,  as  he  again  surveyed  me  from  head  to 
foot. 

It  was  bright  moonlight,  the  night  of  our  long 
ride  from  Bale,  through  old  Freiburg  and  the  bor- 
ders of  the  Black  Forest ;  through  Carlsruhe, 
the  residence  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden  ;  and 
through  many  towns  and  villages  that  lined  the 
railway.  As  we  approached  Heidelberg  my  Ger- 
man friend  pointed  out  to  me  the  historical  old 
city  in  the  distance,  with  innumerable  gas  lights 
glimmering  and  twinkling  in  the  streets  like  my- 
riads of  stars,  and  several  tall  church  spires  and 
towers  outlined  against  the  midnight  sky. 

Approaching  still  nearer,  the  famous  old  castle, 
with  its  crumbling  towers,  its  ivy-covered  arches, 
and  gray,  ragged  battlements,  the  Alhambra  of 
Germany,  was  plainly  visible  in  the  moonlight, 
perched  like  a  huge,  deserted  eagle's  nest  midway 
on  the  side  of  a  high  hill  that  overhung  the  city. 

In  a  few  broken  sentences  my  German  friend 
gave  me  a  brief  history  of  this  famous  ruin ;  that 
it  was  built  towards  the  last  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, and  for  about  three  hundred  years  was  the 
residence  of  the  Electors  or  Counts  Palatine,  who 


THE    OLD    CASTLE. 


held  sway  over  all  the  country  round  about,  and 
who  lived  in  all  the  regal  splendor  and  magnifi- 
cence of  the  old  French  kings  ;  that  at  one  time 
the  court  of  the  Elector  and  his  retainers  who 
lived  within  the  castle  walls  amounted  to  over 
seventeen  hundred  persons ;  that  four  times  dur- 
ing the  seventeenth  century  the  castle  was 
besieged  and  partly  destroyed  by  invading  French 
armies,  and  finally  rendered  uninhabitable  in  1764, 
when,  by  a  stroke  of  lightning,  it  caught  fire  and 
its  roofs  and  interiors  were  completely  consumed. 

The  distance  was  short  from  the  railway  sta- 
tion to  the  hotel  where  I  had  previously  engaged 
rooms.  The  landlord,  Herr  Lang,  who  had 
been  expecting  our  arrival,  was  waiting  at  his 
hotel  entrance  to  receive  us,  and  gave  us  a  hearty 
welcome,  such  as  a  German  landlord  only  knows 
how  to  give.  A  bountiful  supper  was  in  readi- 
ness, and  pleasant  rooms  overlooking  a  beautiful 
flower  garden  and  the  intersection  of  two  streets 
were  all  prepared  for  us  to  occupy.  And  here  I 
slept  soundly  the  first  night  of  a  two  years'  most 
delightful  sojourn  in  Germany. 

Days  and  weeks  flew  rapidly  by  in  this  pleas- 
ant old  city.  It  was  during  the  summer  months, 
and  tourists  from  all  parts  of  the  globe  were 
crowding  the  hotels,  the  streets,  and  the  shady 
walks  around  the  old  castle.  A  fine  orchestral 
band  discoursed  sweet  music  every  day  in  the 
castle  grounds  or  in  a  little  park  on  the  Leopold- 


WHAT    ONE    SEES    IN*    HEIDELBERG.  5 

strasse.  University  students,  many  of  them  be- 
longing to  the  different  corps  and  wearing  jaunty 
little  caps  of  different  colors,  were  promenading 
the  streets  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  evening,  or 
crowded  around  the  little  tables  beneath  green 
arbors  and  shady  trees  in  the  many  beer  gardens, 
drinking  beer  and  singing  their  university  songs. 
And  there  were  the  market  days  twice  a  week, 
when  the  public  squares  of  the  city  were  crowded 
by  country  women  with  little  booths  and  stands, 
selling  all  manner  of  vegetables  from  country 
gardens,  —  also  fruits,  butter,  eggs,  poultry,  fish, 
housekeeping  utensils,  wooden  ware,  and  carvings 
from  the  Black  Forest,  miscellaneous  articles  from 
thread  and  needle  stores ;  flower  stands,  with 
bouquets  of  all  sizes,  and  all  varieties  of  flowers 
temptingly  arranged  and  displayed  to  attract  the 
attention ;  while  the  market-women  themselves, 
with  quaint  costumes  and  head-dresses,  were 
busily  sewing  or  knitting,  when  not  engaged  in 
disposing  of  their  wares,  or  in  wordy  disputes 
with  customers. 

From  the  windows  of  my  rooms  at  the  hotel 
I  could  see  the  valley  in  the  distance  where  the 
waters  of  the  river  Neckar,  which  flow  through 
Heidelberg,  mingle  with  the  waters  of  the  Rhine 
and  then  flow  on  past  Mannheim,  past  Mayence, 
Bingen,  Coblenz,  Bonn,  past  Cologne  and  Dus- 
seldorf,  and  on  and  on  until  they  empty  into  the 
North  Sea. 


6         THE    VEGETABLE    GARDEN    ACROSS    THE    STREET. 

Across  the  street  from  the  hotel  was  a  vacant 
building  lot,  which  had  been  utilized  as  a  garden 
by  a  poor  German  family,  or,  rather,  by  a  poor 
German  woman.  It  was  a  good-sized  garden, 
and  must  have  covered  nearly  a  quarter  of  an 
acre.  There  were  patches  of  potatoes,  cabbages, 
cauliflower,  peas,  beans,  beets,  turnips,  carrots, 
onions,  and  seemingly  every  variety  of  vegetable 
that  a  seedsman's  catalogue  could  enumerate. 
It  was  the  ist  of  June,  and  all  the  vegetables 
were  in  fine  growing  order,  and  gave  unmistak- 
able evidence  that  they  had  been  tended  in  a 
thorough  manner,  and  by  a  skilful  hand. 

My  attention  was  first  called  to  the  garden  by 
hearing  the  constant  click  of  a  hoe  in  the  early 
morning  before  the  sun's  rays  had  gilded  the  hill- 
tops around  Heidelberg.  I  thought  little  of  it  at 
first,  but  at  length  my  curiosity  one  morning 
prompted  me  to  get  out  of  bed  to  obtain  a  sight 
of  this  early-rising  German  gardener  who  was  dis- 
turbing my  morning  slumbers. 

Instead  of  seeing  a  man  digging  away  among 
the  vegetables  as  I  had  expected,  there  was  a 
bronzed-faced  woman,  bareheaded,  and  bare- 
footed, her  soiled  dress  and  petticoats  tucked 
up  above  her  knees,  busily  at  work  with  her  hoe 
among  the  rows  of  potatoes  and  cabbages.  An 
hour  later  I  saw  her  still  at  her  task ;  she  was 
at  work  upon  it  all  the  afternoon,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  evening  shadows  had  partly  buried  the 
city  in  gloom  that  she  dropped  her  hoe. 


WOMAN  S    INDUSTRY.  7 

The  next  day,  and  for  days  and  weeks  after,  I 
found  was  but  a  repetition  of  this  same  routine  of 
labor  among  the  vegetables.  The  poor  woman 
seemed  never  to  rest.  Occasionally  the  wailing 
cry  of  a  young  infant,  in  a  small  poverty-stricken 
house  on  the  farthest  corner  of  the  garden, 
would  cause  her  to  drop  her  hoe  and  hasten  to  its 
relief. 

This  little  house,  which,  with  its  looks  of  pov- 
erty and  neglect,  had  an  air  of  neatness  about  it, 
was  her  home,  and  where  all  her  household  idols 
and  treasures  were  sheltered.  The  stout,  middle- 
aged  German  whom  I  saw  most  of  the  time  sitting 
in  the  doorway,  complacently  smoking  his  long 
German  pipe,  or  taking  frequent  draughts  from  a 
beer  mug  placed  handily  within  his  reach  on  a 
small  table,  was  her  husband  whom  she  had  mar- 
ried for  better  or  worse,  and  whom  she  had  prom- 
ised to  honor  and  obey. 

The  husband  was  not  an  invalid.  The  cares 
and  troubles  of  life  —  if  he  had  any  —  seemed  to 
rest  lightly  on  his  shoulders.  I  could  not  dis- 
cover that  he  had  any  occupation,  without  it  was 
to  smoke,  drink  beer,  and  sit  in  the  doorway  to 
watch  \nsfrati  as  she  toiled  day  after  day  among 
the  vegetables.  Whenever  the  baby  from  an 
inner  apartment  commenced  crying,  and  raised 
its  voice  to  so  high  a  pitch  as  to  interrupt  the  flow 
of  his  meditations,  he  would  take  the  pipe  from 
his  mouth,  or  the  beer  mug  from  his  lip,  and  call 


8        THE  GRAY  MARE  THE  BETTER  HORSE. 

out,  "  Katrina  !  Katrina  !  "  and  Katrina  would 
drop  her  hoe  and  obey  the  call  like  the  good  and 
obedient  wife  that  she  was. 

At  long  intervals,  when  sitting  in  the  doorway 
became  too  wearisome,  he  would  bring  a  low  wood- 
en stool  out  into  the  garden,  and,  sitting  down 
near  his  wife,  keep  her  company,  or  possibly  to  see 
that  she  performed  her  work  in  a  thorough  busi- 
ness-like manner.  On  these  occasions  if  he  saw  a 
stray  weed  that  had  escaped  her  observation,  he 
would  call  her  attention  to  it,  or  get  up  from  his 
stool  and  pluck  it  from  the  ground  himself. 

Occasionally  he  would  hold  the  baby  for  an 
hour  or  two  in  the  doorway,  or  bring  it  out  into 
the  garden  with  him  and  deposit  it  in  the  dirt 
between  the  cabbages  or  other  vegetables,  where 
it  would  remain  in  an  upright  position  a  few 
moments  and  then  roll  over  and  commence  to  kick 
and  scream  until  its  fond  mother  would  catch  it 
up  in  her  arms  and  disappear  with  it  inside  the 
house. 

On  market  days  I  would  occasionally  meet  her 
on  one  of  the  market-places  or  on  the  streets  with 
two  or  three  baskets  of  vegetables  on  her  arms  or 
placed  on  the  ground  about  her,  which  she  was 
endeavoring  to  dispose  of  to  buy  bread,  and  to 
keep  her  lord  and  master  supplied  with  beer  and 
tobacco. 

While  stripping  her  garden  for  the  market,  I 
noticed  that  her  hoe  was  not  idle  in  keeping  the 


REST    FOR    THE    WEARY.  9 

weeds  under  control,  for  early  every  morning  and 
nearly  every  hour  of  the  day,  if  I  was  in  my 
rooms,  I  could  hear  the  click  of  the  busy  hoe  and 
see  her  bending  over  her  toil  like  a  bond  slave. 
The  only  rest  or  recreation  that  the  poor  woman 
appeared  to  have  was  while  disposing  of  her 
vegetables ;  or  the  few  minutes  that  she  -would 
occasionally  steal  from  her  labors  to  have  a  short 
chat  with  the  old  lady  who  sold  pretzels,  lemonade, 
and  mineral  waters  in  a  little  wooden  booth  on 
the  street  corner  near  the  garden. 


CHAPTER   II. 

DUELLING  AT  HEIDELBERG.  —  THE  UNIVERSITY  FIGHTING 
CLUBS.  —  BRUTAL  SWORD  COMBATS  BETWEEN  GERMAN 
STUDENTS. — A  PASTIME  MORE  BARBAROUS  THAN  THE 

BULL-FlGHTS    OF    SPAIN. 

TO  be  in  Heidelberg  and  not  see  one  of  the 
famous  students'  duels  would  be  like  visit- 
ing Spain  and  not  witnessing  a  bull-fight.  Both 
exhibitions,  or  amusements,  if  I  must  so  call 
them,  spring  from  the  barbarism  which  two  sep- 
arate and  distinct  nationalities  have  inherited 
from  barbarous  ages  of  the  past,  and  which  the 
influence  of  civilization  and  the  culture  of  the 
nineteenth  century  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to 
abolish. 

But  there  is  this  difference  between  the  two 
brutal  shows :  a  bull-fight  is  open  to  the  public, 
whereas  a  students'  duel  is  considered  of  such 
an  aristocratic  and  exclusive  character  that  it 
is  seldom  that  strangers,  or  any  one  except  the 
members  of  the  different  students'  corps,  are 
ever  allowed  to  be  present.  Among  the  sixty 
or  seventy  English  and  American  students  who 
have  been  in  Heidelberg  from  one  to  five  and 


DUELLING    AT    HEIDELBERG.  II 

six  years,  and  even  longer,  none  of  them,  with 
two  or  three  exceptions,  have  ever  been  able  to 
witness  one  of  those  combats,  though  they  all,  as 
several  informed  me,  had  done  their  "  level  best " 
and  brought  all  the  influence  to  bear  possible  to 
gain  admittance.  Soon  after  my  arrival  in  Hei- 
delberg I  had  expressed  a  wish  to  some  of  the 
students  in  the  Anglo-American  Club  that  I 
might  be  able  to  witness  a  duel  before  leaving 
the  city,  but  I  had  heard  of  so  many  difficulties  in 
the  way  that  I  had  given  up  the  idea  as  one 
impossible  to  accomplish.  But  my  lucky  star, 
however,  was  in  the  ascendant. 

As  I  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  my  hotel  the 
other  morning,  at  about  ten  o'clock,  for  a  short 
walk,  P.  L.  Conniffe,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  one 
of  the  members  of  the  club,  came  driving  up  in 
hot  haste,  with  perspiration  rolling  down  his 
flushed  face  He  was  evidently  laboring  under 
some  great  excitement. 

"  A  duel !  a  duel !  "  he  exclaimed,  half  out  of 
breath.  "Jump  in  quick;  we  haven't  got  a 
moment  to  lose." 

My  first  impressions  were  that  he  had  accepted 
a  challenge  and  wanted  me  to  express  his  body 
home  to  his  friends  in  Worcester  in  case  he  fell. 
I  jumped  into  the  carriage,  the  driver  gave  the 
horses  two  or  three  sharp  cuts  with  his  whip,  and 
we  dashed  away  through  the  Hauptstrasse  in  the 
•direction  of  the  river  Neckar. 


12  GOING    TO    WITNESS    A    DUEL. 

"  How  is  it  ?  "  I  asked,  as  soon  as  I  could 
speak  and  be  heard.  "  Are  you  going  to  fight  ?  " 

"  Fight !  no,  Lord  bless  you,  I  hope  not !  but  we 
are  going  to  see  one.  Only  got  word  fifteen  min- 
utes ago,  before  I  had  got  out  of  bed." 

"  Yes,  but  how  did  you  get  permission  ? 

"  Your  card  did  it.  Three  days  ago  I  sent,  by  a 
friend,  the  card  you  left  at  the  club  with  one  of 
my  own  to  the  president  of  the  yellow-cap  corps, 
with  the  message  that  you  were  passing  a  few  days 
in  Heidelberg  and  were  very  anxious  to  witness  a 
fight.  I  had  no  idea  it  would  result  in  success, 
but  it  seems  they  concluded  to  let  us  come,  for  the 
president  sent  one  of  the  students  to  my  room  but 
a  few  minutes  ago  with  an  invitation,  and  also  to 
say  that  three  duels  would  take  place  this  fore- 
noon I  would  n't  miss  it  for  a  thousand  dollars!" 
And  my  enthusiastic  friend  told  the  driver,  in 
German,  to  put  on  more  speed. 

Passing  over  the  historical  old  bridge  that  spans 
the  Neckar,  we  took  a  road  by  the  river's  bank  in 
a  northerly  direction  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
when  we  turned  up  into  a  deep  gorge  between  two 
high,  overhanging  hills.  We  soon  came  to  a  large, 
old-style  building,  two  stories  high,  the  upper  one 
formed  by  a  huge  gable  roof,  reminding  one  of  the 
old  Dutch  taverns  to  be  seen  throughout  Holland, 
and  built  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred 
years  ago.  The  yard  in  front  was  used  for  a  beer 
garden,  and  the  rough  tables  and  benches  under 


THE    DUELLING    HOUSE.  13 

the  shady  trees  and  trellises  were  covered  with 
empty  and  half-empty  beer  mugs,  as  if  some  party 
of  revellers  had  taken  a  sudden  flight. 

No  person  was  to  be  seen  stirring,  and  an  omi- 
nous silence  seemed  to  brood  over  the  building  and 
its  surroundings.  I  should  have  thought  the  place 
deserted  but  for  the  presence  of  a  dozen  or  more 
of  huge  and  fierce-looking  bulldogs,  mastiffs,  and 
deer  hounds  of  rare  breeds  which  were  chained 
about  in  the  garden,  and  which  I  had  seen  the  stu- 
dents carefully  leading  through  the  streets  in 
Heidelberg.  Their  masters  were  evidently  not 
far  away. 

The  driver  dismounted  from  his  seat  and  gave 
several  heavy  raps  with  his  whip-handle  on  the 
old-fashioned  door.  In  a  few  minutes  it  was  cau- 
tiously opened,  and  a  man's  head,  evidently  a 
domestic,  appeared.  He  was  handed  our  cards 
and  told  to  take  them  to  the  president  of  the 
yellow-cap  corps.  Soon  a  yellow-cap  student 
came  out,  and,  after  giving  us  a  very  ceremonious 
salute,  requested  us  to  follow  him. 

After  passing  through  a  long  hall  we  mounted 
two  flights  of  stairs,  made  a  turn,  passed  through 
a  dimly  lighted  corridor,  and  entered  a  large  ante- 
room which  some  of  the  students  call  the  "  repair 
shop." 

My  eyes  proceeded  to  business  at  once  in  tak_ 
ing  in  the  character  of  the  room  and  its  varied 
contents  that  were  scattered  about  in  a  most  dis- 


14  THE    HOSPITAL    ROOM    FOR    THE    WOUNDED. 

orderly  state.  Sponges,  towels,  strips  of  cotton 
cloth,  and  rags  saturated  with  blood,  were  lying 
about  on  the  benches  and  tables,  while  wash- 
bowls, pails,  and  foot-baths  partly  filled  with 
bloody  water  were  stationed  around  the  room, 
either  on  the  floor  or  benches.  Blood  was  to  be 
seen  everywhere.  Some  cast-off  garments,  wet 
with  blood,  were  thrown  over  the  backs  of  some 
chairs,  and  two  shirts  stained  with  gory  patches  of 
red  were  hanging  on  nails  by  a  window.  A  case 
of  surgical  instruments  was  on  a  table,  near  which 
were  piles  of  lint,  rolls  of  bandages,  sheets  of 
sticking-plaster,  two  or  three  flasks  of  brandy,  and 
various  remedies  and  medicines  used  as  restora- 
tives when  people  have  fainted  from  loss  of  blood 
or  other  causes.  The  floor  was  sprinkled  with 
blood  that  had  escaped  from  wounds  caused  by 
sword-thrusts,  not  only  this  day,  but  on  former 
occasions. 

It  seems  one  duel  had  taken  place  before  our 
arrival.  It  did  not  matter ;  the  results  were  be- 
fore us.  One  of  the  contestants,  partly  naked, 
was  half  reclining  in  a  chair,  while  a  surgeon  was 
shaving  the  hair  from  the  top  of  his  head  in 
order  to  patch  up  several  ugly  looking  sword-cuts. 
Two  or  three  students  were  washing  the  blood 

C3 

from  his  face  and  body ;  one  of  them  with  small 
sponges  was  sopping  the  blood  that  was  flowing 
freely  from  some  ghastly  wounds  on  the  cheeks 
and  forehead.  One  cheek  was  entirely  laid  open, 


WORK    FOR    THE    SURGEONS.  1$ 

and  a  deep  cut  went  diagonally  across  the  fore- 
head, from  which  branched  off  several  smaller 
cuts.  The  lobe  of  one  ear  had  disappeared,  and 
a  downward  stroke  had  split  the  nose,  which  was 
dripping  blood  like  a  leaking  pump. 

I  will  not  describe  him  further.  It  was  a  ter- 
rible sight.  I  should  have  said  that  he  could  not 
have  lived  half  an  hour ;  but  there  was  no  danger 
of  death,  and  I  was  told  that  as  soon  as  the  pres- 
ent wounds  should  heal  he  would  probably  be 
engaged  in  another  duel.  The  other  duellist  had 
not  suffered  so  badly.  He  was  already  dressed, 
and  had  nearly  got  through  with  the  finishing 
touches  from  the  surgeon's  hands.  His  head  was 
bandaged  and  several  strips  of  sticking-plaster 
adorned  his  face  in  zigzag  courses  across  his 
cheeks  and  forehead.  In  the  afternoon  I  saw 
him  promenading  on  the  Leopoldstrasse,  evidently 
proud  of  his  disfigured  face. 

Passing  through  the  hospital  room,  in  which 
we  did  not  tarry  long  to  scrutinize  its  varied  con- 
tents, we  entered  the  duelling  hall,  a  large,  high 
room  about  fifty  feet  long  by  thirty  wide.  The 
second  duel  was  in  progress,  of  which  we  had 
been  forewarned  by  hearing  the  clash  of  swords 
in  the  outer  room.  Had  I  not  been  anticipating  a 
bloody  and  brutal  spectacle,  the  sight  so  suddenly 
revealed  to  me  would  have  staggered  my  nerves. 
At  one  end  of  the  hall  and  facing  each  other 
were  the  two  duellists,  engaged  in  what  appeared 


l6  A    DUEL    IN    PROGRESS. 

to  be  a  deadly  combat.  The  face  of  one  was  so 
covered  with  blood  that  I  could  not  recognize  his 
features.  The  red  gore  was  dropping  from  his 
nose  and  chin,  and  red  streams  were  trickling 
down  his  bare  back  and  staining  his  shirt  and 
trousers  with  a  crimson  hue.  The  other  duellist, 
although  his  face  was  bloody,  had  evidently  not 
been  so  badly  punished  as  his  adversary.  He 
had  only  received,  so  far,  two  or  three  slight  cuts 
on  his  face,  from  which  blood  was  flowing  down 
his  bosom.  Each  wore  aprons  originally  made 
from  some  white  material,  that  looked  as  if  they 
had  seen  long  service  in  a  slaughter  house,  and 
so  they  had,  for  they  were  almost  black  with  the 
human  gore  that  had  accumulated  from  many  a 
previous  duel.  Their  heads  were  bare  and  their 
faces  unprotected,  save  by  black  steel  goggles 
without  glasses  which  covered  their  eyes.  Heavy 
wrappings  of  silk  —  layer  upon  layer  —  were 
wound  around  their  necks,  and  their  sword  arms 
were  encased  in  thick  shields  or  sleeves,  wadded 
or  padded  with  cotton,  so  that  the  sharpest  blade 
could  not  penetrate  them.  Aside  from  these 
precautions,  they  were  at  the  mercy  of  each 
other's  swords. 

While  making  these  hurried  observations  and 
endeavoring  to  fully  comprehend  the  ghastly 
scene,  the  duel  was  fiercely  raging.  It  was  no 
child's  play,  as  I  had  once  supposed  it  to  be. 
Both  combatants  were  about  thirty  years  of  age, 


NO    SURRENDER. 


athletes  in  size  and  strength,  who  had  been  prac- 
tising for  years  under  skilled  professors  for  such 
an  occasion  as  this.  They  were  in  terrible  ear- 
nest, and  their  long,  sharp  swords  played  over 
each  other's  heads  with  lightning-like  rapidity,  but 
so  skilfully  were  the  blows  parried  that  most  of 
the  wounds  were  only  caused  by  the  bending  or 
the  breaking  of  the  blades.  The  moment  a  sword 
became  disabled,  which  was  constantly  occurring, 
the  seconds  interfered  and  cried,  "Halt!"  and 
the  uplifted  arms  came  to  a  rest.  While  waiting 
for  fresh  weapons  to  be  brought,  the  members  of 
their  respective  corps  gathered  about  them,  some 
bringing  wine  or  water  for  them  to  drink,  others 
wiping  the  flowing  blood  from  their  heads  and 
faces  with  wet  sponges,  and  assisting  the  sur- 
geons to  hastily  bind  up  some  deep  cut  wound 
with  lint  and  impromptu  bandages. 

Soon  as  fresh  swords,  which  had  been  sharp- 
ened like  razors,  were  brought  and  placed  in  their 
hands,  there  was  no  ceremony  or  waiting.  The 
seconds  gave  the  signal,  and  the  two  men  sprang 
forward  at  each  other  like  bloodhounds.  Steel 
clashed  against  steel  again,  sparks  flew  as  if  from 
a  blacksmith's  forge,  and  tufts  of  hair,  cut  as  if 
by  invisible  hands,  were  wafted  long  distances  from 
each  other's  heads.  Occasionally  a  spurt  of  blood 
would  tell  that  a  bad  wound  had  been  given,  and  the 
seconds  would  interfere  while  the  surgeons  could 
examine  and  hastily  quench  the  flowing  current. 


l8  A    BLOODY    SPECTACLE. 

The  duellist  who  first  attracted  my  attention 
by  his  gory  face  was  evidently  getting  the  worst 
of  the  battle.  At  every  encounter  he  received 
fresh  wounds,  and  imagination  could  not  picture 
a  worse  sight  than  he  presented.  Blood  was 
flowing  down  his  face  and  body  like  rain  and 
forming  little  pools  in  the  sawdust  that  was  scat- 
tered around  his  feet. 

The  scene  reminded  me  of  the  bull-fights  that 
I  had  witnessed  in  Spain,  only  this  was  the  more 
brutal  and  inhuman  of  the  two.  It  seemed  every 
moment  as  if  the  man  would,  from  the  loss  of 
blood,  fall  back  dead  in  the  arms  of  his  comrades, 
who  were  watching  the  conflict  with  terrible  eager- 
ness and  suspense.  But  not  for  a  moment  did  he 
show  signs  of  weakness  or  a  disposition  to  give  up 
the  combat.  Two  or  three  times  he  signalled  for 
a  rest,  that  his  friends  might  wipe  the  blood  that 
had  gathered  in  his  eyes  and  blinded  his  sight. 
A  glass  of  water  that  was  held  to  his  lips  became 
as  red  as  port  wine  from  the  blood  that  flowed 
into  it  from  his  face,  but  I  noticed  that  he  drank 
it  all  the  same. 

His  adversary,  it  was  evident,  was  at  the  end  to 
be  the  champion,  although  he  had  received  some 
bad  cuts,  one  of  which  came  near  severing  his 
nose.  He  was  the  superior  swordsman,  and  had 
given  five  wounds  where  he  had  received  one. 
The  man  opposite  him,  the  bloody  man,  was  to  be 
the  "  under  dog  in  the  fight."  The  contest  had 


THE    DUELLING    CLUBS.  19 

lasted  thirty  minutes,  —  it  seemed  hours,  —  and 
would  have  continued  until  one  had  been  killed, 
had  not  the  two  surgeons  interfered  and  ended 
the  fight.  They  examined  carefully  the  wounds 
of  the  "  under  dog,"  and  pronounced  them  so  seri- 
ous that  the  fight  was  declared  at  an  end,  and  the 
two  gladiators,  leaning  and  partly  supported  on 
the  arms  of  their  brother  students,  were  led  out 
into  the  hospital  to  have  their  wounds  dressed. 

Thus  ended  the  second  duel,  which  was  fought 
by  a  member  of  the  white-cap  and  one  of  the 
green-cap  corps.  The  third  duel,  which  was  next 
to  take  place,  was  to  be  between  a  red-cap  and  a 
green-cap.  There  are  five  separate  corps  in  the 
university,  which  are  designated  in  the  streets  by 
the  color  of  their  caps,  —  the  whites,  reds,  blues, 
greens,  and  yellows.  Among  the  eight  hundred 
or  nine  hundred  students  in  Heidelberg,  only 
about  sixty  belong  to  them.  The  white-caps  are 
the  most  numerous,  and  they  number  about  six- 
teen. The  corps  are  very  aristocratic  and  very 
select.  The  members  are  supposed  to  belong  to 
the  nobility  and  to  the  best  German  families,  with 
only  the  best  blue  blood  flowing  through  their 
veins.  To  become  a  member  it  requires  as  much 
influence,  diplomacy,  and  red  tape  as  to  belong  to 
the  most  select  of  the  London  clubs.  Whoever 
is  admitted  is  under  the  necessity  of  fighting 
duels ;  that  is,  they  are  not  under  the  necessity, 
but  if  they  don't  fight  they  are  tabooed  as  cow- 


2O  WOUNDS    AND    SCARS    ON    STUDENTS     FACES. 

ards,  and  Heidelberg  would  become  an  uncom- 
fortable place  of  residence  for  them  ever  after. 
If  they  don't  volunteer,  the  president  of  a  corps 
volunteers  them,  or  rather  appoints  them  to  meet 
adversaries,  and  then  there  is  no  showing  the 
white  feather ;  they  must  fight,  and  they  do. 

In  the  duelling  hall  all  the  members  of  the  dif- 
ferent corps,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  were 
present.  They  all  appeared  to  be  over  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  and  physically  were  splendid-looking 
fellows.  I  don't  think  there  were  half  a  dozen 
among  them  whose  faces  did  not  bear  evidence  of 
these  bloody  conflicts.  Their  cheeks  and  fore- 
heads were  scarred  and  furrowed  by  deep  welts 
crisscrossing  each  other,  and  occasionally  furrow- 
ing down  through  the  mouth  and  chin.  I  ob- 

o  o 

served  that  the  noses  of  two  or  three  had  been 
grafted  on  and  had  badly  healed.  They  were  all 
seated  around  the  hall ;  those  who  were  not 
administering  to  the  wounded  in  the  outer  room 
were  seated  at  their  respective  tables,  each  corps 
by  itself,  drinking  wine  and  eating  their  lunches. 
Two  or  three  German  girls  were  tending  a 
refreshment  table  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  and 
appeared  to  take  no  more  interest  in  the  duels 
than  they  would  in  so  many  chicken  fights. 

Mr.  Conniffe  and  myself,  the  only  strangers  or 
outsiders  present,  were  the  guests  of  the  yellow- 
cap  corps,  who  were  very  polite  and  showed  us 
every  attention  possible.  True  politeness  is  a 


\\AITING    FOR    THE    THIRD    DUEL.  21 

virtue,  either  natural  or  acquired,  which  all  the 
Heidelberg  students  seem  to  possess.  The  rules 
of  etiquette,  however,  established  by  the  duelling 
corps  forbid  any  intimacy  or  recognition  between 
the  different  members.  We  were  introduced  to 
no  one  outside  of  the  yellow-caps,  and  I  noticed 
that  the  members  of  the  several  corps  were  as 
strangers  to  each  other,  and  not  a  nod  or  look  of 
recognition  was  exchanged  between  them. 

The  waiting  for  the  third  duel  was  long  and 
tedious.  The  sword-sharpener,  an  old  gray-headed 
man,  came  into  the  hall  two  or  three  times,  bear- 
ing freshly  ground  weapons,  which  he  placed  in 
convenient  positions.  Another  man  came  and 
scattered  fresh  sawdust  to  cover  the  blood  where 
the  last  duellists  had  stood,  that  those  who  were  to 
follow  might  not  "  stand  on  slippery  places."  It 
was  like  the  little  episode  in  the  Spanish  bull- 
fights when  the  arena  has  been  cleared  of  the  dead 
bull  and  horses,  and  occasionally  the  dead  bull- 
fighter, and  the  attendants  come  in  with  rakes  and 
sawdust  to  obliterate  the  traces  of  the  bloody 
conflict.  Through  the  open  door  of  the  hospital 
room  I  could  see  the  surgeons  and  students  wash- 
ing the  bloody  bodies  and  patching  up  the  wounds 
of  the  two  who  had  just  fought,  while  others  were 
dressing  and  preparing  the  two  who  were  next  to 
measure  swords. 

Erelong  I  heard  the  noise  of  hurried  footsteps, 
and  the  two  men  came  striding  into  the  hall,  each 


22   THE  CONFLICT SHORT,  SHARP,  AND  DECISIVE. 

surrounded  by  several  friends,  and  a  surgeon  sup- 
porting their  sword  arms.  The  first  glance  at 
them,  with  their  black  goggles,  muffled  throats, 
etc.,  reminded  me  of  professional  divers  with  their 
armor  on  ready  for  service.  There  was  no 
waiting  or  hesitating;  in  a  moment  the  men  were 
placed  in  position,  swords  placed  in  their  hands, 
the  signal  given,  and  the  bloody  work  began  in 
earnest. 

I  was  told  that  this  was  an  "  affair  of  honor," 
and  that  some  affront  or  imagined  insult  was  to 
be  cancelled  or  wiped  out  with  blood.  It  seemed 
an  uneven  match.  One  was  a  tall,  powerful  ath- 
lete, while  his  adversary  was  small  and  below  the 
ordinary  stature.  But  in  sword  duels  the  victory 
is  more  apt  to  go  with  the  smaller  and  more  agile 
of  the  two. 

There  were  several  short  and  sharp  encounters, 
in  which  the  contest  was  about  evenly  balanced. 
Both  were  splendid  swordsmen,  and  their  skilful 
strokes  and  thrusts  were  watched  by  their  friends 
with  intense  interest.  Each  received  three  or 
four  slight  cuts,  but  it  was  difficult  to  determine 
which  drew  the  first  blood.  Several  times  their 
swords  were  disabled  and  fresh  ones  called  for. 
Once  the  sword  of  the  large  man  broke  in  the 
centre,  and  the  flying  end  came  whizzing  past  me 
and  struck  a  student  in  the  chest,  who  was  stand- 
ing by  my  side.  He  jumped  as  if  the  steel  had 
pierced  his  flesh,  but  fortunately  was  not  injured. 


THE    VICTORY    WON*.  23 

Finally  the  small  man  received  a  blow  on 
the  head,  which  was  to  end  the  day's  "sport." 
Athough  twenty  feet  distant,  I  heard  the  sword 
strike  the  skull  with  a  peculiar  thud,  which  I 
knew  had  a  terrible  meaning.  A  large  lock  of 
hair  fell  to  the  floor  from  his  head,  and  I  could 
see  by  the  twitching  of  his  body  and  the  partial 
closing  of  his  eyes  through  the  steel  goggles  that 
the  blow  had  nearly  stunned  him.  In  a  moment 
his  face  was  covered  with  blood,  which  flowed 
freely  down  his  body  and  formed  a  pool  in  the 
sawdust  at  his  feet.  The  seconds  instantly  cried, 
"  Halt,"  and  the  surgeons  and  the  friends  of  the 
wounded  man  rushed  forward  and  caught  him  in 
their  arms.  His  wound,  after  a  hasty  examina- 
tion, was  pronounced  serious,  and  he  was  led 
away,  weak  and  tottering,  to  the  hospital. 

The  duel,  which  was  now  at  an  end,  had  lasted 
less  than  ten  minutes.  I  think  most  of  the  stu- 
dents regretted  it  was  so  quickly  terminated. 
Those  who  did  not  belong  to  the  corps  of  the 
wounded  student  soon  left  the  building  and  hur- 
ried away  to  Heidelberg  for  their  dinners.  It  was 
after  one  o'clock,  and  we  were  also  anxious  to  get 
back  to  our  hotels.  Passing  through  the  hospital 
we  saw  the  young  man  stretched  out  on  a  reclin- 
ing chair,  the  two  surgeons  and  several  students 
busy  at  work  over  him.  The  surgeons  had 
partly  shaved  the  head  and  were  sewing  up  a 
ghastly  scalp  wound  that  extended  several  inches 


24  AMERICAN    STUDENTS    AS    DUELLISTS. 

across  the  skull,  and  that  was  still  bleeding  pro- 
fusely. We  hastened  down-stairs,  jumped  into 
our  waiting  carriage,  and  drove  away. 

Since  witnessing  these  civilized  and  aristocratic 
combats,  my  opinion  of  Morrissey,  Heenan,  and 
Sayers  has  undergone  a  decided  change.  I  am 
afraid  that  I  have  misjudged  these  champions  of 
the  ring  heretofore.  Taking  brutality  as  a  stand- 
point, why  should  n't  they  be  heroes  of  the  first 
class  ?  Bismarck,  who  was  once  a  Heidelberg 
student,  still  shows  on  his  cheeks  traces  of  sword- 
cuts  that  he  received  in  Heidelberg  duels.  The 
Emperor  and  the  German  nation  made  him  pre- 
mier and  created  him  a  prince.  Why  should  n't 
New  York  honor  Morrissey  or  any  other  shoulder- 
hitter  by  sending  him  to  Congress  or  even  giving 
him  a  Cabinet  position  ? 

Among  the  sixty  or  seventy  English  and  Amer- 
ican students  at  Heidelberg,  none  of  them  belong 
to  the  fighting  corps.  They  are  not  cowards, 
either.  It  is  known  that  if  occasion  requires  they 
can  fight  their  own  way,  but  they  have  no  desire 
that  their  good-looking  faces  shall  be  hacked  and 
chopped  up  like  dogs'  meat  and  be  disfigured 
ever  after.  Not  long  ago  an  American  student 
had  a  slight  quarrel  with  one  of  the  fighting 
corps  students,  and  received  from  him  a  challenge. 
Being  the  challenged  party,  the  American  had  the 
choice  of  weapons.  He  sent  word  to  the  German 
by  a  friend  that  he  would  meet  him  the  next 


A    KENTUCKY    FATHER    WRITES    TO    HIS    SON.  2$ 

morning  at  six  o'clock  at  a  place  outside  of  the 
city,  and  the  weapons  should  be  navy  revolvers 
(he  had  a  good  pair)  at  ten  paces.  The  German 
and  his  friends  concluded  it  would  not  be  a  good 
day  for  duels,  and  the  matter  was  dropped. 

A  student  read  me  an  extract  of  a  letter  he  had 
recently  received  from  his  father  in  Kentucky. 
As  near  as  I  can  remember  this  is  the  substance 
of  it:  — 

DEAR  BOB,  —  I  hear  that  they  have  sword  duels  in  Heidel 
berg,  and  that  many  of  the  students  engage  in  them.  I  do 
not  believe  in  the  barbarous  practice  of  duelling,  but  there 
are  times  when  one  has  to  fight  or  be  branded  a  coward. 
You  know  that  our  family  does  not  belong  to  the  latter  class. 
Should  occasion  require,  which  I  trust  will  not  happen, 
never  choose  swords,  —  only  cowards  and  Frenchmen  resort 
to  those  weapons.  Choose  pistols  or  rifles,  which  mean 
business.  Never  show  yourself  in  your  native  town  with  a 
sword-scratch  on  your  person.  From  your  affectionate 

FATHER. 

The  young  man  asked  me  what  I  thought  of 
that  doctrine.  I  told  him  I  did  not  believe  in 
either  the  sword-scratch  or  the  hole  made  by  the 
pistol  ball. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIRES  IN  EUROPEAN  CITIES.  — UNFREQUENCY  OF  FIRES  ABROAD. 
— FIRE-PROOF  BUILDINGS. — How  FIRE  ALARMS  ARE  GIVEN. 

—  GOING  TO   A   FIRE  IN  THE  GERMAN   CITY  OF  HEIDEL- 
BERG.—  FIREMEN  WHO  WAIT  TO  PUT  ON  THEIR  UNIFORMS, 
SHAVE,  AND    BLACK    THEIR  BOOTS  BEFORE  ANSWERING  A 
FIRE  ALARM.  —  PREPARATIONS  FOR  PUTTING  OUT  A  FIRE. 

—  Too  LATE. 

HAVE  you  ever  witnessed  a  fire  in  a  conti- 
nental city  ?  Probably  not,  for  a  fire  of  any 
magnitude,  even  to  the  burning  of  a  single  build- 
ing, is  almost  as  rare  and  much  of  an  event  as  an 
Emperor's  funeral.  Buildings,  as  a  rule,  are  all  fire- 
proof. With  tile  roofs,  tile  or  stone  floors,  walls 
and  partitions  of  heavy  stone  or  brick  masonry, 
and  stairways  and  halls  built  without  the  intro- 
duction of  wood  in  any  shape,  there  is  but  a  slim 
chance  for  the  fire  fiend  to  get  a  foothold,  and 
much  less  to  get  under  any  headway. 

Europeans  don't  go  to  bed  at  night  with  the 
vague  fear  haunting  them  that  before  morning 
they  may  suffer  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Lorenzo 
by  being  roasted  alive,  and  it  very  seldom  hap- 
pens that  their  own  houses  ever  prove  to  be  their 
funeral  pyres.  The  property-holders  pay  little  or 
no  insurance,  and  they  are  not  taxed  heavily 


FEW    FIRES    IN    FOREIGN    CITIES.  2/ 

every  year  to  keep  up  an  expensive  fire  depart- 
ment. Were  the  architects  and  builders  in 
Europe  to  erect  such  combustible  tinder-box 
buildings  as  are  being  constructed  in  the  United 
States  every  year  by  the  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands,  I  verily  believe  that  these  "  despotic  " 
governments  would  proclaim  an  edict  within 
twenty-four  hours  to  either  cut  off  the  architects' 
and  builders'  heads,  or  banish  them  to  the  United 
States  for  life. 

To  see  an  American  paper  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  which  does  not  contain  its  regular 
chronicle  of  two  or  three  columns  of  fires  large 
and  small,  that  are  constantly  taking  place  in  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  we  should  think  that  the 
printer  had  cheated  us  out  of  our  regular  dues. 

Do  Americans  ever  realize  the  fact  that  the 
yearly  statistics  which  have  been  carefully  gath- 
ered of  the  losses  by  fire  in  the  United  States 
i»hovv  that  they  equal  in  value  the  annual  cotton 
crop  of  the  Southern  States  ?  Imagine  what  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  would  be  in  our  country 
if  we  but  had  the  fire-proof  buildings  of  Europe. 
There  is  no  reason  why  New  York  and  Boston, 
Philadelphia  and  Chicago,  should  not  be  as  fire- 
proof as  Paris.  To  destroy  the  latter  city  by  fire 
the  communists  found  impossible,  and  they  only 
succeeded  in  burning  out  the  interior  of  some  of 
the  public  buildings  by  first  filling  them  with  the 
most  combustible  of  materials,  saturated  with 
barrels  of  petroleum,  pitch,  and  tar. 


28  FIRE    COMPANIES    ABROAD. 

To  burn  an  American  city  it  would  not  require 
these  accessories.  A  lighted  match,  on  a  windy 
night,  thrown  behind  a  wooden  partition,  or  ceil- 
ing, or  under  the  wooden  floors  where  the  carpen- 
ters have  carefully  hid  away  their  shavings,  is 
almost  sure  to  do  the  work. 

Although  the  services  of  firemen  are  so  seldom 
called  into  requisition  in  this  country,  still  in 
nearly  all  German  cities  and  towns  of  any  impor- 
tance they  have  their  regular  fire  departments, 
organized  and  equipped  for  the  public  safety,  and 
the  saving  of  property  in  case  a  fire  ever  does 
occur.  These  organizations  are  similar  to  Ma- 
sonic lodges,  only  they  have  no  secrets  and  require 
no  mysterious  initiations.  They  have  their  head- 
quarters, where  they  hold  their  regular  meetings 
and  where  they  congregate  seven  nights  in  the 
week  to  tell  stories  and  drink  unlimited  quantities 
of  beer;  they  have  their  quarterly  parades  and 
annual  musters ;  they  contribute  liberally  toward 
the  support  of  the  widows  and  orphan  children  of 
deceased  members;  and  when  a  member  dies  they 
escort  his  body  to  the  grave  with  all  the  pomp 
and  pageantry  of  a  first-class  military  funeral. 

I  recently  saw  a  fireman's  funeral  passing 
through  the  streets  of  Heidelberg.  At  first  I 
mistook  it  for  a  military  review  of  Heidelberg 
"  swells,"  a  sort  of  New  York  7th  Regiment 
parade  on  a  small  scale,  only  the  said  regiment 
could  not  boast  of  more  elegant  uniforms,  neither 


A    FIREMAN  S    FUNERAL.  2Q 

could  they  march  with    a   more  perfect   military 
step. 

There  were  about  a  hundred  firemen  in  the 
procession,  and  a  splendid-looking  set  of  men 
they  were.  They  all  wore  the  German  spiked 
helmet  caps  of  burnished  brass,  which  glistened 
in  the  sun's  rays  like  balls  of  fire.  Their  uni- 
form was  of  blue  broadcloth,  the  coats  and 
trousers  heavily  trimmed  with  red  of  the  same 
material,  and  also  with  a  profusion  of  gold-lace 
and  gilt  buttons,  while  from  the  brass  belts 
around  their  waists  were  suspended  elegant 
swords  or  sabres  of  fine  workmanship.  The 
drum-major  that  preceded  the  military  band, 
which  was  playing  a  funeral  march,  I  was  told 
weighed  nearly  three  hundred  pounds,  and  was 
a  trifle  over  seven  feet  high  As  he  marched  so 
grandly  along  in  his  elegant  uniform,  and  be- 
neath an  enormous  bearskin  cap,  he  left  an  im- 
pression not  soon  to  be  forgotten. 

In  Heidelberg  and  other  Gsrman  cities,  during 
long,  long  intervals,  they  have  alarms  of  fire.  A 
petroleum  lamp,  perhaps,  is  upset,  which  creates 
an  alarm  by  setting  fire  to  the  window-curtains 
or  bedclothes ;  a  carpenter's  shop,  or  some  manu- 
factory where  combustible  materials  are  used  or 
stored,  is  burnt  out  of  its  contents ;  but  it  is 
very  seldom  the  fire  ever  spreads  beyond  the 
room  where  it  originates,  as  it  is  impossible  to 
burn  the  walls,  the  floors,  or  the  partitions  of 
European  buildings. 


3O  A    FIRE    ALARM    IX    HEIDELBERG. 

There  was  an  alarm  of  fire  in  Heidelberg  a. 
short  time  since.  Such  a  rare  event  created  a 
sensation  in  the  city.  Had  the  Kaiser  Wilhelm 
been  passing  through  the  place,  there  could  not 
have  been  a  greater  commotion  or  a  greater  turn- 
out of  the  citizens  en  masse.  There  was  a  general 
stampede  of  the  throngs  of  men  from  the  beer 
shops  and  beer  gardens,  and  for  a  space  of  twenty 
or  thirty  minutes  these  favorite  resorts  of  the  Teu- 
tonic race  were  actually  deserted. 

But  three  events  in  Germany  have  ever  been 
known  to  produce  such  a  phenomenon  :  the  arrival 
of  the  Emperor,  an  earthquake,  and  an  alarm  of 
fire.  My  attention  was  first  called  to  the  alarm 
by  hearing  the  shrill  blasts  of  a  bugle,  the  beating 
of  drums,  and  the  clattering  of  a  horse's  hoofs 
through  the  streets  under  my  hotel  window,  as  if 
the  animal  was  being  ridden  at  break-neck  speed. 
My  first  thoughts  were  of  a  new  French  invasion, 
and  that  another  Paul  Revere  was  calling  the 
people  to  arms.  I  immediately  hurried  into  the 
street  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  uproar,  where  I 
heard  the  clatter  of  more  horses'  hoofs  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  the  blasts  of  more  bugles  in  various 
parts  of  the  city.  Men,  women,  and  children 
were  hurrying  in  different  directions  as  if  in 
search  of  a  place  of  safety,  fearing  that  this,  pos- 
sibly, was  an  earthquake,  and  that  the  ground 
might  at  any  moment  open  beneath  their  feet,  or 
the  buildings  come  tottering  down  over  their  heads. 


SMOKE    AT    LAST    DISCOVERED.  3! 

I  soon  learned  that  a  fire  had  broken  out  in 
some  part  of  the  city,  or  some  part  of  Germany, 
but  no  one  knew  where  to  look  for  it,  or  in  what 
direction  to  go  to  witness  the  rare  sight.  There 
was  no  ringing  of  bells,  or  cries  of  fire !  fire !  The 
alarm  was  being  given  by  the  men  on  horseback 
blowing  bugles. 

In  the  suburbs  of  Heidelberg  are  several  chem- 
ical manufactories,  whose  tall  chimneys,  high  as 
Bunker  Hill  Monument,  are  all  the  time  belching 
forth  clouds  of  black  smoke  like  Mt.  Vesuvius. 
Crowds  of  people  were  rushing  in  the  direction  of 
these  chimneys,  thinking  they  might  be  on  fire, 
while  others  were  tearing  down  toward  the  river 
Neckar  to  see  if  the  old  stone  bridges  were  not  in 

D 

flames,  or  possibly  the  ruins  of  the  old  castles 
overhanging  the  city. 

It  was  over  half  an  hour  before  the  crowd  got 
on  the  right  scent.  Some  one  had  discovered 
smoke  slowly  creeping  out  of  the  upper  windows 
and  from  the  tiled  roof  of  a  three-story  building 
on  the  Hauptstrasse,  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and 
in  due  course  of  time  the  tide  of  travel  set  in  the 
right  direction. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  scene  of  conflagration, 
or  rather  of  smoke,  I  found  crowds  of  spectators, 
but  I  could  discover  no  signs  of  any  firemen  or 
fire-engines ;  neither  could  I  see  that  any  attempt 
was  being  made  to  get  the  fire  under  control. 
'Many  of  the  men  and  women  had  wooden  and 


32         A  SHOWER  OF  HOUSEHOLD  GOODS. 

leathern  buckets  and  tin  pails  in  their  hands, 
which  they  had  brought  with  them,  but  no  one 
seemed  to  know  for  what  use  they  were  intended. 
Among  the  few  who  had  not  deserted  the  prem- 
ises when  the  smoke  was  discovered  there  was 
evidently  a  great  consternation.  Windows  were 
being  thrown  open  or  hurriedly  smashed  out,  and 
I  never  witnessed  before  such  a  shower  of  worldly 
goods  descending  from  a  burning  building.  It 
was  the  old  story  over  again  of  people  losing 
their  heads,  or  rather  their  senses,  at  a  fire.  Look- 
ing-glasses, wash-bowls,  and  pitchers,  all  varieties 
of  crockery,  oil  paintings,  bric-a-brac,  pieces  of 
furniture,  mantel  ornaments,  etc.,  were  raining 
down  from  above  on  to  the  paved  street  with  as 
little  ceremony  or  care  as  they  would  have  been 
if  thrown  out  of  the  crater  of  a  volcano.  At  one 
of  the  second-story  windows,  at  least  a  hundred 
feet  from  the  smoke,  I  saw  two  or  three  men  and 
as  many  women  struggling  with  an  upright  piano, 
which  they  were  endeavoring  to  force  out  of  a 
window,  but,  luckily  for  the  piano  and  its  owner, 
the  opening  was  too  small. 

In  the  mean  time  the  smoke  was  increasing  in 
volume,  though  there  were  no  signs  of  flames. 
Minutes  were  rolling  by,  but  there  were  no  signs 
of  any  firemen.  I  came  across  an  American  stu- 
dent who  belonged  to  the  university,  and  asked 
him  the  cause  of  the  delay. 

"  Was  there  no  fire  organization  in  the  city  ? " 


WHERE    ARE    THE    FIREMEN  ?  33 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  a  large  one,    he  answered. 

"  But  where  are  the  firemen  ?  Why  are  n't  they 
here  to  put  out  the  fire  ?  " 

"  Oh,  they  '11 'be  here  by  and  by ;  they  have  gone 
home  to  put  on  their  uniforms.  They  are  as  par- 
ticular as  if  they  were  going  to  a  dress  parade. 
Most  of  them  stop  to  shave  and  have  their  boots 
blacked." 

"  And  the  building  on  fire  all  the  while  ?  " 

"  To  be  sure ;  but  you  can't  hurry  them ;  they 
are  not  afraid  of  the  fire's  spreading  or  the  build- 
ing's burning  up.  They  are  not  so  used  to  this 
kind  of  business  as  we  are  in  America ;  they 
don't  have  the  practice." 

More  minutes  went  by,  and  there  was  a  stir  in 
the  mass  of  beings  who  were  quietly  gazing  at 
the  smoke  and  the  still  descending  shower  of 
household  goods  from  the  windows.  The  crowd 
opened  right  and  left,  like  the  waters  of  the  Red 
Sea  on  a  particular  occasion,  and  in  the  open 
passage  appeared  a  fine  carriage  drawn  by  two 
spirited  horses.  Laying  back  at  his  ease  on  the 
back  seat  was  evidently  a  military  officer  of  some 
high  rank.  He  was  in  full  uniform,  even  to  his 
sword,  spiked  helmet  cap,  and  the  inevitable  gold- 
bowed  spectacles.  I  saw  by  the  sensation  his 
arrival  had  created  that  he  was  some  distinguished 
general.  I  asked  a  German  near  me  if  it  was  the 
Crown  Prince,  Bismarck,  or  Von  Moltke,  but  the 
man  stared  at  me  with  astonishment  through  his 

3 


34  THE    FIRE    MARSHAL. 

spectacles,  and  said  that  it  was  neither;  it  was 
Herr  Weisengarten,  or  some  such  name,  the 
Freiwillige  Feuerweher,  which  meant  that  he  was 
the  chief  of  the  fire  department. 

The  great  official  slowly  got  out  of  his  carriage 
and,  after  carefully  adjusting  his  spectacles,  took 
a  long  stare  at  the  building  from  which  the  smoke 
was  issuing.  Then  he  approached  a  little  nearer 
and  took  another  stare.  Evidently  not  satisfied 
that  it  was  smoke,  he  went  over  to  the  right  of 
the  building  and  gazed  long  and  earnestly  at  the 
roof  and  windows  ;  then  he  moved  a  distance  to 
the  left  for  another  view.  The  scene  reminded 
me  of  the  story  of  the  blue  jay  in  Mark  Twain's 
Tramp  Abroad,  where  the  inquisitive  bird  was  so 
nonplussed  at  the  disappearance  of  the  acorns 
down  the  knot-hole. 

As  soon  as  the  man  had  become  satisfied  at 
something  or  other,  he  went  back  to  his  carriage 
and  rode  away.  I  inquired  where  he  had  gone, 
and  was  told  that,  having  become  convinced  that 
there  was  actually  a  fire,  he  had  started  to  order 
out  the  fire-engines. 

The  firemen  now  began  to  make  their  appear- 
ance in  squads  of  twos  and  threes  and  half-dozens. 
They  were  all  gay  in  uniforms  similar  to  that  worn 
by  their  chief,  only  not  so  rich.  Handsome  swords 
dangled  by  their  sides,  and  their  brass  helmet 
caps  glistened  in  the  sunlight.  No  engines  had 
yet  arrived,  nor  was  there  any  evidence  that  the 


DISTURBING    THE    PEACE.  35 

fire-buckets  were  to  be  brought  into  requisition. 
Several  American  students  were  getting  excited 
or  rather  mad  over  the  slowness  with  which  every- 
thing is  done  in  this  country,  especially  in  put- 
ting out  fires.  One  of  them  proposed  that  they 
should  run  through  the  streets,  giving  the  alarm 
in  American  style,  and  see  if  it  would  not  hurry 
up  the  engines.  It  was  no  sooner  proposed  than 
off  they  started  on  a  run.  At  the  end  of  two  or 
three  blocks  they  commenced  screaming  at  the 
top  of  their  voices,  Feuer!  feuer!  which  in  Eng- 
lish means  fire,  and  is  pronounced  the  same.  I 
heard  the  familiar  alarm  echoing  through  the 
streets  for  several  minutes,  and  then  it  stopped 
suddenly.  There  was  an  ominous  silence.  I  did 
not  see  the  students  again  that  day.  I  heard  dur- 
ing the  afternoon  that  they  had  been  arrested  by 
the  police  and  locked  up  for  creating  a  disturb- 
ance in  the  streets.  They  won't  undertake  again 
to  give  an  alarm  of  fire  in  a  foreign  city. 

While  this  little  incident  was  transpiring,  the 
attention  of  the  crowd,  who  were  still  idly  gazing 
at  the  building  from  a  safe  distance,  was  attracted 
by  a  fresh  horror,  but  one  of  a  most  ridiculous 
nature.  An  immense  German  of  Daniel  Lam- 
bert proportions  suddenly  appeared  in  his  night- 
shirt at  a  bay-window  on  the  first  floor,  —  far  re- 
moved from  any  possibility  of  fire,  —  frantically 
screaming  for  help.  He  had  evidently  overslept 
himself  from  the  effects  of  a  keg  of  beer  drank 


36  A    FRIGHTENED    GERMAN. 

the  previous  evening,  when  the  unusual  noise  in 
the  street  —  it  was  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon —  suddenly  awoke  him.  With  a  clear  head 
he  would  have  quietly  dressed  himself  and  walked 
down  one  short  flight  of  stairs  into  the  street,  but 
in  his  sudden  fright  he  imagined  the  building 
above  and  around  him  was  a  mass  of  burning  cin- 
ders. 

His  fright  was  terrible  to  behold.  I  could  see 
him  tearing  around  in  the  room  like  a  mad  bull, 
his  big  eyes  standing  out  like  those  of  the  giant 
in  the  fairy  tale.  He  smashed  out  a  window  with 
a  chair,  and,  thrusting  out  his  head,  screamed 
wildly  to  the  people,  — 

"  Mein  Gott!  will  niemand  mich  vetten!  Ich  ver- 
brenue  hier,  —  wo  sind  meine  Freunde  ?  Kommt 
dock  schnell !  "  which  in  English  would  be,  "My 
God !  will  nobody  save  me  ?  I  burn  here,  —  where 
are  my  friends  ?  Come  quick ! "  Two  or  three 
men  finally  rushed  up  to  the  man's  chamber,  and 
after  a  few  minutes'  absence  appeared  with  him 
in  the  street,  all  dressed  except  his  hat  and  coat. 
I  never  saw  a  more  happy  man  than  this  big  burly 
German.  He  boiled  over  with  gratitude  to  his  res- 
cuers, and  fairly  hugged  and  kissed  them  as  they 
led  him  away  to  a  beer  shop  near  by 

By  this  time  two  fire-engines  had  arrived,  each 
of  which  was  securely  tied  with  ropes  on  a  large 
platform  dray,  and  drawn  by  two  horses.  They 
were  not  over  fivejor  six  feet  long,  and  looked 


THE    FIREMEN    DISAPPEAR.  3/ 

like  the  small  machines  we  have  in  America  for 
sprinkling  our  gardens  and  lawns.  The  chief  of 
the  fire  department  again  made  his  appearance  in 
his  carriage,  and  it  looked  as  if  the  warfare  would 
soon  commence  against  the  smoke,  which  was 
gradually  decreasing  in  density. 

A  new  difficulty  here  sprang  up.  Most  of  the 
firemen  who  first  arrived  had  disappeared  and 
were  nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  chief,  however, 
seemed  to  comprehend  the  situation.  He  called 
two  or  three  of  his  aids,  and  gave  them  directions 
to  go  to  all  the  beer  shops  in  the  neighborhood 
and  summon  the  delinquent  members  of  the  fire 
corps  to  their  duty.  In  due  course  of  time  they 
were  mustered  together,  formed  in  line  like  a 
body  of  infantry,  and  their  chief  with  a  drawn 
sword  marched  up  and  down  the  ranks,  and  gave 
each  one  a  critical  inspection  through  his  gold- 
bowed  spectacles. 

Apparently  satisfied  that  their  uniforms  were 
in  good  order,  and  their  boots  well  polished,  he 
made  them  a  short  speech,  complimenting  them 
on  their  fine  appearance,  and  told  them  not  to 
hesitate  or  falter  in  their  combat  with  the  devour- 
ing element  of  fire  which  they  were  expected,  as 
patriots,  to  subdue. 

Part  of  his  speech,  during  the  cheering,  I  could 
not  understand,  but  presume  he  told  them  that 
if  any  should  fall  while  performing  their  duty, 
and  were  obliged  to  "  give  up  the  ghost,"  — 


38  PROCEEDING    TO    BUSINESS. 

and  their  beer,  —  a  grateful  country  would  give 
them  a  big  funeral  and  see  them  handsomely 
buried.  He  then  told  them  to  break  ranks  and 
proceed  to  business. 

It  was  a  long  time  —  it  seemed  long  —  before 
the  engines  were  finally  got  off  the  drays  and  dis- 
entangled from  the  ropes,  ready  to  play  on  the 
building  with  two-inch  hose-pipes  which  were 
about  fifty  feet  long. 

Here  was  a  new  difficulty.  It  was  found  that 
the  watering  carts  which  had  been  sent  to  the 
river  Neckar  for  water  had  not  returned.  The 
chief  began  to  get  excited  at  the  delay.  He  was 
afraid  the  smoke,  which  was  growing  less  and 
less,  would  disappear  entirely  without  his  efforts. 
The  water  carts  finally  made  their  appearance, 
but  not  until  a  squad  of  firemen  had  been  sent  to 
hurry  them  back. 

Work  now  commenced  in  earnest.  The  crowds 
of  people  forgot  all  about  the  fire  and  gathered 
around  the  engines  to  see  how  the  things  worked. 
Like  "  Helen's  babies,"  they  wanted  to  see  "  the 
wheels  go  round."  A  cordon  of  police  were 
required  at  last  to  keep  them  back  and  give  the 
firemen  room.  One  engine  was  found  to  be  out 
of  order  and  was  taken  away  to  a  machine  shop 
in  a  distant  part  of  the  city  for  repairs.  The  other 
engine  was  found  all  right  and  ready  for  action, 
the  hose  was  attached,  and  a  man  stationed  at  the 
man-pipe  to  guide  the  stream. 


MISCALCULATIONS.  39 

The  firemen  were  waiting  for  the  chief  to  give 
the  word  "  go  "  or  rather  "  play."  Most  of  the 
people  in  the  crowd,  I  could  see,  were  nervously 
watching  the  movements  with  as  much  fear  and 
anxiety  as  they  would  the  first  firing  of  a ,  hun- 
dred-ton gun.  They  probably  never  had  seen  a 
fire-engine  work  before,  and  were  suspicious  the 
thing  might  blow  up  like  a  Mississippi  steamboat 
or  go  dancing  around  among  them  like  a  stray 
rocket  or  a  big  Pharaoh's  serpent.  Many  of  the 
nervous  old  women  and  children  on  the  outside  of 
the  crowd  were  leaving  for  their  homes  with  their 
buckets  and  pails,  anxiously  looking  over  their 
shoulders  to  see  what  would  happen  at  the  first 
great  effort.  When  the  chief  finally  gave  the 
word,  the  small  stream  through  a  three-quarter 
inch  nozzle  did  not  reach  the  building  by  ten  feet. 

The  engine  was  then  ordered  to  be  moved 
nearer,  and  at  the  second  trial  the  stream  barely 
reached  the  windows  of  the  second  story.  More 
men  were  ordered  at  the  brakes,  but  their  efforts 
could  carry  the  stream  no  higher.  On  some  prin- 
ciple of  philosophy,  only  known  to  the  chief,  he 
directed  that  the  hose-pipe  belonging  to  the  absent 
engine  should  be  attached  to  the  one  the  firemen 
were  working.  A  fifteen-foot  ladder  was  brought 
and  placed  against  the  building,  and  I  thought 
they  were  going  to  try  the  experiment  of  hoisting 
the  engine  to  the  roof,  and  subdue  the  smoke 
from  that  quarter,  but  I  was  mistaken.  A  big, 


4O  AN    UNFORESEEN    DILEMMA    AND    A    FALL. 

heavy  fireman  mounted  the  ladder  with  the  hose- 
pipe, thinking  he  could  reach  the  fire,  but  find- 
ing his  ladder  only  reached  half-way  to  the  third 
story,  a  man  from  above  let  down  a  rope  and  drew 
the  hose  up  to  a  window  near  where  the  smoke 
was  feebly  issuing.  The  firemen  were  ordered 
again  to  play  away,  but  they  were  unable  to  force 
the  water  through  the  hose. 

This  was  an  unexpected  dilemma,  and  there 
was  much  excitement  and  dissatisfaction  among 
the  firemen  and  spectators.  The  big  German  on 
the  ladder  commenced  swearing  like  a  pirate  at 
the  firemen  below,  and  while  gesticulating  with 
his  feet  (his  hands  were  employed  holding  on  to 
the  hose)  the  round  of  the  ladder  on  which  he  was 
standing  gave  way,  and  he  came  down  to  the 
sidewalk  with  a  crash,  bringing  the  hose  down 
with  him  and  nearly  pulling  the  man  from  the 
third-story  window,  who  was  bravely  holding  on 
to  the  man-pipe. 

The  excitement  now  was  intense.  The  fire- 
men rushed  to  the  rescue  of  their  comrade,  whose 
bulky  remains  they  gathered  up  and  bore  away 
to  the  hospital  in  an  ambulance  which  is  al- 
ways provided  for  such  an  emergency.  The 
fire  was  forgotten  ;  in  fact,  there  was  no  fire  now, 
it  had  died  out  of  itself  after  burning  out  the  con- 
tents of  two  or  three  rooms,  and  badly  scorching 
the  wood- work  of  several  doors  and  windows. 
Even  the  smoke,  which  had  been  gradually  grow- 


OUT.  41 

ing  less  and  less,  entirely  disappeared  and  was  no 
longer  visible. 

Thus  ended  a  fire  in  a  German  city.  To  de- 
scribe a  fire  in  any  of  the  continental  cities  would 
be  but  a  repetition  of  this.  But  as  fires  only  happen 
once  in  a  few  years,  they  are  as  much  a  novelty 
to  the  natives  as  an  eruption  of  Mt.  ^tna  or 
Vesuvius.  The  manner  of  putting  one  out  was 
certainly  a  novelty  to  me. 

The  Heidelberg  paper  the  next  morning,  in  an 
article  describing  the  fire  and  the  accident  to  the 
fireman,  mentioned  that  the  latter,  in  his  fall, 
broke  an  arm,  a  leg,  and  also  his  spectacles. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

BEER  DRINKING  IN  GERMANY. —  BEER  AS  AN  ELEMENT  IN  UNI- 
VERSITY LIFE. —  DRINKING-BOUTS  OF  STUDENTS  AND  PRO 
FESSORS. —  KNEIPS  AND  BEER  ORGIES. —  A  FIGHT  IN  A  BEER 
SHOP. — THE  FARCE  OF  AMERICAN  STUDENTS  GOING  ABROAD 
TO  ATTEND  GERMAN  UNIVERSITIES. 

I  HAVE  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Ger- 
mans love  beer.  I  arrived  at  this  conclusion 
immediately  on  reaching  German  soil.  The  mo- 
ment I  crossed  the  frontier  from  wine-drinking 
France  I  smelt  hops,  and  I  have  smelt  hops  ever 
since.  The  German  atmosphere  I  find  is  thor- 
oughly impregnated,  go  where  you  will,  with  the 
aroma  from  beer  shops  and  breweries,  and  there  is 
no  denying  the  fact  that  the  two  great  industries 
of  the  German  nation  are  hop  raising  and  beer 
drinking,  the  women  attending  to  the  former  and 
the  men  to  the  latter. 

In  my  innocence  I  once  thought  that  beer 
drinking  in  England  was  carried  to  excess,  but  I 
was  mistaken.  Englishmen,  as  yet,  are  in  the 
infant  class  —  in  the  A  B  C's  —  in  acquiring  a 
German's  education  in  the  practice  of  beer  drink- 
ing, and  stowing  away  under  their  vests  such  vast 
quantities  of  the  extract  of  hops.  Every  little 


LEER    DRINKING    IN    GERMANY.  43 

village  and  every  city,  large  and  small,  through- 
out Germany  is  full  of  an  indefinite  number  of 
buildings  which  are  devoted  to  the  sale  of  beer  or 
its  manufacture.  Beer  shops  are  on  the  corners 
of  all  the  streets,  they  are  round  the  corners, 
they  are  next  door  and  over  the  way,  they  are  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  streets,  they  are  in  the  base- 
ments or  the  attics,  they  are  at  the  end  of  every 
dark  lane  and  disreputable  alley,  and  those  that 
are  not  above  ground  are  under  ground  ;  in  fact, 
beer  shops  are  everywhere. 

The  German  begins  drinking  beer  early  in  the 
morning.  Before  he  takes  his  coffee  he  swallows 
a  few  glasses  to  counteract  the  effect  of  the  beer 
of  the  day  previous.  In  place  of  coffee  he  takes 
beer  again,  which  he  stows  away  as  a  foundation 
on  which  to  build  the  day's  work  in  beer  drinking. 
During  the  forenoon  he  has  not  fingers  and  toes 
enough  to  tally  the  number  of  glasses  that  it  takes 
to  give  him  an  appetite  for  his  dinner. 

Up  to  this  time  it  has  been  mere  child's  play  — 
just  practising  the  scales,  as  it  were  —  to  keep  his 
throat  pliable.  In  the  afternoon  he  gets  decidedly 
thirsty,  and  he  makes  a  business  of  beer  drinking ; 
he  "  wades  in,"  so  to  speak,  and  the  number  of 
glasses  that  he  consumes  by  twelve  or  one  o'clock 
at  night  would  be  as  difficult  to  count  as  a  shower 
of  shooting  stars. 

I  don't  wish  to  overdraw  the  picture  or  paint  it 
in  false  colors.  I  wish  it  merely  to  be  understood 


44  HEIDELBERG    PROFESSORS    AND    STUDENTS. 

that  the  Germans,  as  a  race,  are  very  fond  of  beer, 
and  that  they  drink  a  great  deal  of  it. 

Many  of  the  old  Heidelberg  professors  are 
known  to  have  drank  of  an  evening  from  thirty 
to  forty  glasses,  in  addition  to  what  they  have 
taken  through  the  day.  They  do  no  manual 
labor,  they  toil  not  in  the  fields  or  under  the  rays 
of  a  hot  sun,  they  drink  not  from  thirst,  but 
because  they  are  accustomed  to  drink  it ;  they 
have  drank  from  their  cradles  to  middle  age  and 
old  age,  and  they  take  pride  in  being  able  to 
boast  of  the  great  number  of  glasses  they  have 
swallowed  at  one  sitting.  I  have  heard  of  Ger- 
man students  that  have  drank  seventy-two  and 
seventy-three  glasses  of  an  evening,  and  German 
beer  glasses  are  not  wineglasses  in  size,  either. 
The  student  who  has  arrived  to  such  perfection 
in  the  art  as  to  be  able  to  stow  away  seventy 
glasses  and  over  is  a  pet  of  the  university,  and 
especially  with  the  professors.  He  is  crowned 
king  and  made  a  hero  of  by  his  brother  students ; 
he  "  wears  the  belt,"  so  to  speak,  until  some  one 
else  is  found  who  can  go  beyond  his  highest 
number. 

Several  of  the  American  students  in  the  univer- 
sity are  hard  at  work  for  the  championship,  and 
two  or  three,  who  have  reached  thirty  or  forty 
glasses  at  one  sitting,  tell  me  that  seventy  glasses 
looks  a  long  way  ahead  of  them  yet,  but  that  they 
hope  soon  to  accomplish  the  task. 


THE    STUDENTS     TRADE-MARK.  45 

In  nearly  all  the  shop  windows  of  Heidelberg 
there  is  a  prominent  display  of  photographs  of 
the  various  students'  corps,  classes,  and  societies, 
arranged  and  grouped  about  in  every  position 
imaginable.  Many  of  the  groups  are  taken  in  the 
grounds  of  the  famous  old  castle,  showing  the 
grand  old  ruins  in  the  background,  and  every 
student,  without  exception,  is  represented  with  a 
mug  of  beer  in  his  hand  in  the  act  of  drinking, 
or  a  mug  or  several  mugs  deposited  on  a  table 
within  his  reach.  If  two  or  three  or  more  stu- 
dents have  their  photographs  taken  in  a  group, 
that  they  may  distribute  them  among  their  inti- 
mate friends  and  brother  students,  to  be  remem- 
bered by  in  after  years,  the  inevitable  beer  mugs 
are  sure  to  be  prominent  features  in  the  pictures. 
The  beer  mug  is  their  trade-mark. 

There  are  in  Heidelberg  a  number  of  large 
beer  halls  that  are  the  favorite  resorts  of  the  stu- 
dents, and  where  they  "  most  do  congregate." 
They  are  usually  crowded  from  ten  or  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon  until  long  after  midnight. 
Outsiders  don't  trouble  them  much.  If  a  stran- 
ger accidentally  finds  his  way  into  one  he  soon 
discovers  that  his  presence  is  not  wanted,  and, 
swallowing  his  glass  of  beer  as  quickly  as  possible, 
he  hurries  away.  If  he  persists  in  remaining  to 
drink  two  or  three  glasses  or  more,  he  is  hustled 
out,  devoid  of  ceremony. 

Occasionally    this    exclusive  spirit   in    the  stu- 


46  A    PLUCKY    AMERICAN. 

dents  leads  to  hard  fights,  which  end  in  broken 
heads  and  bloody  noses;  they  not  unfrequently 
catch  tartars. 

A  few  weeks  asT>  an  American   student  who 

O 

had  but  recently  arrived  in  Heidelberg  strayed 
into  one  of  these  beer  halls  of  an  evening  and 
ordered  a  glass  of  beer.  He  drank  that,  and  then 
ordered  a  second  and  a  third.  He  noticed  that  the 
students  who  were  grouped  about  the  different 
tables  had  stopped  drinking,  and  all  had  their 
eyes  directed  toward  him,  as  if  he  was  an  intruder. 
When  he  called  for  his  fourth  glass  one  of  the 
students  came  forward  and  told  him  to  leave  the 
hall.  He  was  told  by  the  American  that  he  was 
aware  that  Germany  was  not  a  free  country,  but 
that  beer  halls  were  free  and  he  should  stay.  The 
German  told  him  if  he  did  not  leave  at  once  he 
would  be  put  out.  He  was  requested  to  "  try  it 
on." 

When  the  student  went  back  for  re-enforcements 
the  student  quickly  gathered  up  an  armful  of  the 
thick,  heavy  earthen  beer-mug  plates,  that  were 
on  several  of  the  tables  near,  and  barricaded  him- 
self behind  a  heavy  oak  table  in  the  corner  of  the 
hall.  He  also  collected  all  the  beer  mugs  and 
glasses  that  were  not  in  use,  and  that  he  could 
speedily  lay  his  hands  on,  and  drew  around  him 
two  or  three  chairs  to  be  ready  for  an  emergency- 
It  is  said  that  for  a  minute  or  two  he  worked 
very  lively.  When  eight  or  ten  of  the  students 


"CLEANING  OUT"  A  BEER  SHOP.  47 

rushed  forward  to  carry  out  their  threat  there  was 
a  lively  fight,  which  lasted  for  about  ten  minutes. 
The  charge  was  met  by  volley  after  volley  of  beer 
plates,  beer  mugs,  and  glasses,  every  one  of  which 
hit  its  mark  and  did  its  work.  Two  or  three  of 
the  students  jumped  on  the  table  and  attempted 
to  take  the  American  by  force  of  arms,  but  were 
laid  out  hors  du  combat  by  the  oaken  chairs, 
which  proved  admirable  weapons  of  defence. 

The  battle  waxed  warmer  every  moment. 
Fresh  recruits  took  the  places  of  the  wounded  as 
fast  as  they  fell  back  for  repairs.  The  plates, 
mugs,  and  glasses  soon  gave  out  and  the  barricade 
was  demolished.  Then  the  plucky  American  met 
his  assailants  face  to  face,  with  the  odds  fearfully 
against  him.  But  he  still  maintained  his  ground 
and  remained  master  of  the  situation.  Fortu- 
nately he  was  a  scientific  boxer,  and  when  the  stu- 
dents made  another  rush  upon  him  they  were  met 
with  what  was  to  them  new  and  unexpected 
weapons.  Blows  played  out  right  and  left  from 
his  shoulders  with  such  lightning  rapidity  among 
the  opposing  forces  that  soon  several  were  lying 
on  the  floor,  and  the  others  withdrew  to  a  distant 
part  of  the  hall,  probably  to  reconsider  the  matter 
of  putting  the  stranger  out. 

The  hall  was  in  a  fearful  confusion.  Tables 
and  chairs  were  overturned  and  broken,  windows 
and  mirrors  were  smashed,  and  the  floor  covered 
with  a  debris  of  beer  mugs  and  glasses.  The 


48  STREET    ROWS    AND    KNEIPS. 

American,  seeing  that  his  opponents  did  not  seem 
inclined  to  renew  the  fight,  quietly  took  his  hat 
and  walked  out.  The  next  day  he  was  arrested 
by  the  proprietor  of  the  beer  hall  on  a  charge  of 
causing  disturbance  and  for  damages  for  broken 
furniture,  etc.  He  at  once  caused  the  arrest  of 
the  students  as  the  aggressors  in  the  fray,  and  the 
matter  was  finally  settled  by  the  latter,  who  were 
obliged  to  pay  the  principal  share  of  the  damages. 
But  the  Germans  were  so  fascinated  with  the 
American's  pluck  and  bravery  that  a  few  nights 
afterward  they  got  up  a  grand  demonstration  on 
his  account  at  the  same  beer  hall,  on  which  occa- 
sion an  indefinite  quantity  of  beer  was  drank  in 
his  honor,  and  he  was  made  to  feel  that  he  was 
the  hero  of  the  hour. 

I  speak  of  this  fracas  as  a  sample  of  others 
which  are  constantly  taking  place  every  week,  and 
sometimes  several  times  a  week,  not  only  among 
the  students  themselves,  but  among  students  and 
outsiders.  Scarcely  a  night  but  there  are  street 
rows  and  fights  between  beer-drunken  students, 
policemen,  and  citizens,  which  result  in  more  or 
less  of  the  former  going  to  the  lock-up. 

Two  or  three  nights  of  the  week,  and  especially 
Saturday  nights,  the  different  student  corps,  soci- 
eties, and  clubs  have  rendezvous,  where  they  meet 
to  pass  the  hours  in  a  species  of  German  wake, 
but  designated  by  the  Germans  as  Kneips.  They 
are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  beer  orgies.  Soon 


DRINKING   TO    LIVING   AND    DEAD    CELEBRITIES.       49 

as  a  member  enters  a  room  and  takes  his  seat  at  a 
table  an  attendant  places  before  him  a  mug  of 
beer.  A  friend  calls  upon  him  and  proposes  his 
health,  and  the  two  are  expected  to  drain  their 
mugs  without  resting.  Another  friend  calls  upon 
him  in  a  few  minutes,  and  he  drinks  again. 

After  a  short  interval  he  proposes  the  health  of 
a  student  at  a  distant  table,  and  the  third  mug 
disappears.  Songs  are  sung,  speeches  are  made, 
stories  are  told,  all  of  which  are  accompanied  by 
draining  the  beer  mugs  several  times. 

This  kind  of  skirmishing  is  kept  up  until  twelve 
o'clock,  when  work  commences  in  earnest.  The 
president  of  the  club  or  corps  stands  up  and  pro- 
poses the  health  of  Kaiser  William.  Every  one 
present  rises  with  a  full  mug,  three  hearty  cheers 
are  given,  and  the  mugs  are  drained.  Soon 
another  student  proposes  the  health  of  the  Em- 
press, which  results  in  three  more  cheers  and 
empty  glasses. 

Then  they  drink  to  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden, 
to  the  Duchess,  to  all  the  members  of  the  royal 
family  separately,  to  Bismarck  and  Von  Moltke, 
to  their  sweethearts,  to  the  pretty  girls  of  Heidel- 
berg, to  the  professors  in  the  university,  some  of 
whom  get  groans  instead  of  cheers.  If  any 
Americans  or  Englishmen  are  present,  or  repre- 
sentatives of  any  other  nationality,  they  drink  to 
the  most  prominent  celebrities  of  each  country,  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  Gens.  Grant 


5<D  WHEN    NATURE    CRIES    "ENOUGH!" 

and  Sherman,  and  perhaps  to  Barnum  or  Tom 
Thumb.  They  drink  to  Queen  Victoria,  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  all  the  little  Waleses,  to 
Gladstone,  Beaconsfield,  Bradlaugh,  Tichborne 
the  claimant,  Madame  Tusaud,  of  wax-work  noto- 
riety, and  so  on  and  on,  until  it  is  difficult  to  find  a 
living  or  dead  celebrity  that  they  don't  remember. 

It  may  be  said  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  person 
to  drink  of  an  evening  the  quantity  of  beer  that  I 
have  mentioned,  and  so  it  would  be  did  not 
nature  seek  a  relief  of  its  own  when  a  certain 
maximum  has  been  reached. 

If  nature  does  not  cry  out  and  rebel,  like  a  per- 
son's stomach  in  the  worst  stages  of  seasickness, 
then  the  student  has  a  resource  of  his  own  by 
quietly  slipping  a  finger  down  his  throat,  which 
has  the  desired  effect.  After  his  stomach  has 
been  fully  relieved,  or  rather  emptied,  he  is  ready 
to  try  its  capacity  again. 

Such   details    are   too  dismasting  to  chronicle, 

o  o 

but  in  giving  a  true  picture  of  German  student 
life  and  German  habits  it  is  necessary  to  tell  the 
whole  truth  without  any  false  colorings  or  leaving 
any  mystery  unexplained. 

Many  of  the  Heidelberg  professors  are  not 
lambs,  either,  in  the  habit  of  beer  drinking.  In 
all  of  the  university  buildings  —  possibly  with 
two  or  three  exceptions  —  beer  is  on  tap  where  it 
is  convenient  for  the  professors,  and  where  they 
do  full  justice  to  the  extract  of  hops  immediately 


PROFESSORS    NOT    NOVICES.  5! 

before  and  after  every  lecture.  Not  unfrequently 
during  a  lecture  they  slip  quietly  out  of  the  room, 
and  returning  two  or  three  minutes  after  resume 
the  thread  of  their  discourse,  at  the  same  time 
wiping  the  beer  froth  from  their  mustache  and 
whiskers.  In  making  arrangements  for  celebrat- 
ing the  recent  fourth  of  July  in  Heidelberg  with 
the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  large  hotels,  the  com- 
mittee of  arrangements  wanted  two  large  rooms, 
or  salons,  in  addition  to  the  dining  hall,  for  the 
ladies'  reception  in  the  evening.  The  salon  they 
most  desired  they  were  told  they  could  not  have, 
as  it  was  Saturday  night,  which  was  the  professors' 
night  for  meeting  in  that  room  for  their  regular 
weekly  Kneip,  and  they  had  met  in  that  room  for 
years.  Nothing  would  induce  the  proprietor  to 
disturb  the  professors,  who  were  his  oldest  and 
best  customers. 

What  I  have  written  of  Heidelberg,  with  its 
students  and  professors,  with  their  inherited  or 
acquired  habits,  is  true  of  nearly  all  the  German 
university  towns.  Gambrinus,  with  his  overflow- 
ing tankard,  is  the  king,  whose  example  they  all 
imitate,  and  whose  figure-head  should  be  promi- 
nently displayed  in  the  lecture  hall  of  every  uni- 
versity. 

There  probably  was  never  a  greater  farce  or  per- 
haps a  more  dangerous  one  than  the  sending  of 
American  young  men  abroad  to  attend  the  univer- 
sities, or  rather  to  have  the  reputation  of  graduating 


52  GERMAN    UNIVERSITIES. 

from  them.  But  a  very  small  percentage  of  those 
who  do  cross  the  Atlantic  for  that  purpose  ever 
receive  a  degree  or  ever  graduate.  The  manner 
of  teaching  in  the  German  universities  is  entirely 
different  from  that  pursued  in  the  American  uni- 
versities. It  requires  no  long  years  of  hard  study, 
or  even  an  examination  of  any  kind  to  enter  them, 
and  any  one  who  will  pay  for  his  matriculation 
papers  becomes  a  student,  an  accepted  member  of 
the  university,  and  can  remain  as  such  twenty 
years,  or  as  long  as  he  will  pay  his  quarterly  or 
annual  assessments  and  does  not  commit  any 
crime  that  would  necessitate  his  expulsion.  He 
is  not  under  the  necessity  of  devoting  any  of  his 
time  to  study ;  he  has  no  lessons,  and  he  is  not 
heard  in  any  recitations.  All  the  benefit  he 
derives  from  the  university,  if  he  derives  any,  is 
through  the  lectures  given  by  the  professors. 
These  he  attends  only  when  he  feels  in  the  mood. 
After  being  in  the  university  three  years,  or  five 
years,  or  ten  years,  and  he  feels  he  has  wasted 
enough  time  in  frolicking  and  beer  drinking,  he 
applies  for  a  degree,  and  the  faculty  accommodate 
him  at  any  hour  of  the  day.  Several  of  the 
professors  are  summoned,  and  he  goes  through 
a  rigid  examination.  Perhaps  he  passes  and 
receives  his  sheepskin,  but  more  often  he  fails, 
and  has  the  choice  of  remaining  in  the  university 
for  a  longer  period  or  leaving  it  forever. 

American    young   men    who    come    abroad    to 


LECTURES    TO    STUDENTS.  53 

attend  the  German  universities  without  having  a 
knowledge  of  the  German  language  before  leaving 
their  own  country  —  and  seldom  one  that  has  — 
labor  under  great  disadvantages.  German  is  a 
difficult  language  to  acquire,  and  it  is  a  rare  in- 
stance where  a  student  acquires  sufficient  knowl- 
edge of  it  in  two  years,  or  even  three,  to  fully  com- 
prehend the  fine  points  of  all  the  lectures  and 
receive  the  desired  benefit  from  them.  They  are 
usually  delivered  in  a  rapid,  stereotyped  manner, 
and  even  the  German  student  has  to  pay  the  very 
strictest  attention  in  order  that  he  may  gather  their 
full  meaning  and  value.  What  great  advantage 
are  they,  then,  to  the  foreigner  who  only  gathers 
the  import  of  a  sentence  here  and  a  sentence  there, 
and  jumps  at  whatever  conclusion  he  thinks  best 
suited  to  the  idea  which  he  thinks  the  lecturer 
intended  to  convey  ? 

During  my  stay  in  Heidelberg  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  young  American  student  —  not 
very  young,  either,  for  he  must  have  been  over 
thirty  years  of  age  —  who  had  been  attending 
medical  lectures  at  the  university  for  two  years  or 
more.  Not  much  of  his  time  was  spent  in  study, 
but  he  was  generally  present  at  the  lectures,  and 
seemed  to  take  as  much  interest  in  the  learned 
essays  of  the  professors  as  the  German  students 
themselves. 

Suddenly  he  was  called  home  by  his  parents  or 
guardians,  who  had  learned  from  some  source  or 


54  AMERICAN    STUDENTS    ABROAD. 

other  that  he  was  living  anything  but  a  creditable 
or  studious  life.  In  order  that  he  might  be  de- 
cently clothed  when  he  appeared  before  his  trans- 
Atlantic  friends  and  relatives,  he  found  it  neces- 
sary to  purchase  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  but  he  had 
acquired  so  little  of  the  German  language  that  he 
was  obliged  to  get  the  services  of  a  fellow-student 
to  act  as  interpreter  before  the  purchase  could  be 
made. 

Such  cases  are  not  unfrequent,  but  fortunately 
there  are  occasional  exceptions,  where  a  hard- 
working, laborious  American  student,  after  spend- 
ing two,  three,  and  often  four  years  here  in  learn- 
ing the  German  language,  and  afterwards  as  many 
more  years  devoted  to  close  application  to  some 
special  branch  of  science,  carries  off  the  highest 
honors  of  the  university. 

Americans,  also,  who  make  such  a  flourish  by 
going  abroad  for  a  year  or  two  to  finish  their 
medical  education  in  the  schools  and  hospitals  of 
Paris,  Berlin,  or  Vienna,  in  the  majority  of  cases 
waste  their  time.  The  same  time  spent  in  close 
study  in  the  excellent  medical  schools  and  hospi- 
tals which  we  have  at  present  in  our  own  country 
would  be  of  far  greater  advantage  and  usefulness 

o  o 

to  them,  and  would  save  them  much  time  in 
fitting  themselves  for  the  active  work  of  life  in 
their  professions.  In  Paris,  Berlin,  or  Vienna 
they  can  witness  surgical  operations  and  dissec- 
tions, and  can  spend  as  much  time  as  they  please 


ACQUIRING  THE  GERMAN  LANGUAGE.        55 

in  the  hospitals  in  observing  the  treatment  of 
different  diseases.  And  what  knowledge  they 
gain  is  mostly  from  observation,  and  not  from 
what  they  hear.  Without  coming  abroad  they 
can  witness  just  as  skilful  surgical  operations,  just 
as  learned  and  elaborate  dissections,  and  just  as 
skilful  treatment  of  diseases  in  New  York,  Boston, 
or  Philadelphia. 

If  they  are  studying  abroad  and  do  not  thor- 
oughly understand  French  or  German,  the  lectures 
of  the  professors  in  their  explanations  of  surgery, 
anatomy,  and  disease  are  of  no  earthly  use  to  them, 
and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  either  language 
cannot  be,  or  is  not,  acquired  in  one  or  two  years. 
Several  of  our  medical  schools  in  America  and 
some  of  our  principal  universities  are  fully  equal 
to  those  in  the  Old  World,  and  really  offer  superior 
advantages  to  any  we  find  here  in  acquiring 
thorough  and  useful  professional  educations. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  EUROPEAN  SARATOGA. — BADEN-BADEN  AND  ITS  LOAFING 
ROYALTY.  —  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THIS  FAMOUS  GERMAN 
RESORT. — GOING  TO  CHURCH  WITH  AN  EMPRESS.  — ENGLISH 
CHAPELS  AND  CHURCH  SERVICE  ON  THE  CONTINENT. — CHAP- 
LAINS NOT  NOTED  FOR  PlETY  OR  MORALITY. — THE  WEALTH 

OF  THE  GRAND  DUKE  OF  BADEN, 

WHAT  Saratoga  is  to  the  United  States  as 
a  fashionable  summer  resort,  Baden-Baden 
is  to  Germany  and  continental  Europe.  For 
more  than  half  a  century  it  has  been  the  Mecca 
of  more  wealthy  and  aristocratic  pilgrims  who 
have  sought  its  gaming-tables,  its  celebrated  min- 
eral baths,  its  fine  hotels,  its  beautiful  walks  and 
drives,  and  its  high-toned  society  than  any  other 
watering-place  in  Europe. 

The  town  is  situated  in  the  beautiful  little  val- 
ley of  the  Oos,  within  the  borders  of  the  Black 
Forest,  and  three  miles  distant  from  the  main  line 
of  the  Frankfort  and  Bale  Railway,  with  which  it 
is  connected  by  a  branch  road  of  its  own.  It  is 
a  small  village  of  about  5,000  inhabitants,  most 
of  whom  are  shop-keepers  and  those  who  cater  in 
some  way  or  other  to  the  wants  of  the  throngs  of 
visitors  during  the  summer  months. 


GAMBLING    AT    BADEN-BADEN.  57 

The  place  owes  its  celebrity  more  to  its  gaming- 
tables than  to  its  mineral  baths.  From  1808 
until  1872,  at  which  time,  by  royal  decree,  all 
gambling  was  prohibited  in  Germany,  it  was  the 
most  noted  gambling  place  in  the  world.  The 
millions  of  money  that  have  changed  hands  over 
the  green-covered  tables  in  the  gilded  rooms  of  the 
Conversationshaus  would  go  far  towards  paying  the 
national  debt  of  any  one  of  the  European  govern- 
ments. The  profits  of  gambling  to  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  green-covered  tables  have  made  Baden- 
Baden  the  enchanting  spot  that  it  is.  Money  lost 
by  the  venturesome  players  has  been  spent  by  mill- 
ions in  adorning  the  town  and  converting  the 
country  far  and  near  into  a  magnificent  park.  It 
is  like  Chatsworth  in  England,  only  different. 
Beautiful  avenues,  promenades,  and  drives,  bor- 
dered by  rows  of  majestic  oaks,  hedges,  and  flower- 
ing shrubbery,  extend  in  all  directions.  Even  the 
hills  and  mountain-sides  for  miles  around,  which 
are  densely  shaded  by  the  grand  old  forests,  are 
covered  with  a  net-work  of  macadamized  roads  and 
foot-paths  that  have  been  built  at  great  expense 
for  the  use  of  those  who  come  here  to  spend  the 
summer  months. 

When  gambling  was  prohibited,  eight  years  ago, 
it  was  predicted  that  Baden-Baden  was  doomed, 
and  would  cease  ever  after  to  be  the  fashionable 
resort  of  former  years ;  but  these  predictions  have 
not  been  realized.  During  the  past  season  all 


58      A  SURPLUS  OF  ROYALTY  AND  NOBILITY. 

the  hotels  and  pensions  have  been  crowded  with 
visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  Bade- 
blatt,  the  village  paper,  which  publishes  daily  the 
arrivals  registered  at  the  hotels,  and  which  sums 
up  in  every  issue  the  sum  total  of  strangers  since 
the  opening  of  the  present  season,  already  records 
the  number  at  43,756.  This  is  considered  by  the 
natives  (the  shop-keepers,  hotel-keepers,  etc.)  the 
"high  tide  "  of  prosperity. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  probably  more 
royalty  and  nobility  in  Baden-Baden  to  the  square 
inch  than  in  any  place  in  Europe.  The  streets 
and  promenades  swarm  with  princes  and  prin- 
cesses, counts  and  countesses,  dukes  and  duch- 
esses, viscounts  and  viscountesses,  barons  and 
baronesses,  marquises  and  marchionesses,  and  all 
variety  of  titled  aristocracy.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  swing  a  cat  or  throw  a  stone  without  hitting  a 
title  in  some  direction.  To  be  in  Baden-Baden 
without  a  title  of  some  kind,  a  person  is  sure  to 
be  a  nonentity  and  is  on  a  par,  socially,  with  the 
waiters  and  shop-keepers. 

The  Russians  comprehend  the  situation  when 
they  prepare  to  leave  their  native  country  to 
travel  abroad.  Those  who  are  not  princes,  dukes, 
or  counts  by  inheritance,  are  permitted  by  royal 
authority  to  wear  the  titles  when  journeying  in 
foreign  lands.  This  is  the  reason  why  we  find 
the  hotels  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  elsewhere 
so  full  of  Russian  "  nobles." 


GERMAN    TITLES.  59 

German  titles  are  also  equally  plenty,  and  are  to 
be  encountered  at  ever  turn.  All  of  the  little 
principalities  and  duchies  which  compose  this  new 
empire  of  Germany  are  like  so  many  mushroom 
beds,  from  which  are  constantly  springing  up  and 
multiplying  every  year  a  new  crop  of  dukes, 
counts,  princes,  etc.  There  are  also  swarms  of 
titled  nobility  in  France,  and  before  the  late  war 
Baden  was  overrun  with  them ;  but  since  the  late 
41  unpleasantness "  Frenchmen  have  given  Ger- 
many and  its  watering-places  a  wide  berth ;  and 
it  is  seldom,  even  now,  ten  years  since  the  last 
gun  was  fired,  that  we  hear  French  spoken  among 
the  crowds  of  people  that  flock  here  from  all 
parts  of  Europe. 

Three  weeks  ago  the  Empress  of  Germany,  with 
a  retinue  of  servants,  came  to  Baden,  and  a  week 
later  the  Emperor,  with  his  suite  and  the  whole 
German  court,  arrived  from  Berlin.  The  royal 
household,  the  court  included,  occupy  the  Hotel 
Mesmer,  which  the  proprietor  retains  exclusively 
for  his  royal  guests  during  their  stay. 

This  hotel  is  only  separated  from  the  Conversa- 
tionshaus  and  the  beautiful  grounds  where  the 
visitors  promenade  every  afternoon  and  evening 
by  a  very  narrow  street.  Persons  promenading 
back  and  forth,  listening  to  the  delightful  music 
from  the  fine  band  in  the  kiosk,  or  sitting  by  the 
restaurant  sipping  their  coffee  or  drinking  their 
beer,  can  at  almost  any  hour,  if  so  disposed,  get  a 


6O  HER    MAJESTY    AS    A    CHURCH-GOER. 

glimpse  of  royalty  —  in  fact,  a  good  square  look, 
—  as  it  goes  and  returns  from  its  rides  and 
walks.  The  Empress,  whose  seventieth  birthday 
has  just  been  celebrated,  carries  the  weight  of  so 
many  years  gracefully  and  without  giving  evi- 
dence of  such  an  advanced  age.  To  see  her  out 
early  every  morning  taking  her  "  constitutional," 
and  walking  so  briskly  that  her  maid  and  footman 
in  livery  have  to  walk  sharp  to  keep  pace  with 
her,  it  is  hard  to  realize  that  she  has  seen  three- 
score and  ten  years. 

Her  Majesty  is  a  devoted  church-woman. 
During  her  stay  in  Baden  she  attends  regularly 
every  Sunday  the  little  English  church,  and  joins 
in  the  service  like  any  other  visitor  or  stray  sin- 
ner that  might  enter  the  house  of  worship.  She 
times  her  arrival  so  as  to  be  present  just  as  services 
are  to  commence.  She  rides  to  church  in  a  close, 
handsome,  not  over-expensive  carriage,  drawn  by 
two  elegant  coal-black  horses  with  silver-mounted 
harnesses.  The  coachman  and  footman  are  in 
livery,  and  the  stout,  plain-looking  German  woman, 
plainly  dressed,  who  rides  with  her  Majesty  inside, 
is,  I  suppose,  one  of  the  ladies  i.i  waiting,  or  "  maids 
of  honor."  At  the  church  door  one  of  the  war- 
dens, Mr.  Oakes,  of  New  York,  stands  ready  to 
receive  her,  and  escorts  her  to  her  seat,  which  is 
directly  in  front  of  the  chancel.  Last  Sunday  I 
happened  to  have  a  seat  directly  behind  her 
Majesty,  and  of  course  could  but  observe  all  her 


GOING   TO    CHURCH   WITH   AX    EMPRESS.  6 1 

movements,  what  she  wore,  etc.  If  I  had  the 
peculiar  talent  of  some  female  writers  I  would 
undertake  to  describe  her  dress,  but  I  forbear.  It 
was  so  very  plain  and  inexpensive,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  sensible  and  so  appropriate  for 
church  going,  that  I  know  the  fashionable  world, 
which  would  expect  an  empress's  dress  to  be  spar- 
kling with  diamonds  and  covered  with  the  richest 
of  laces,  would  be  disappointed. 

She  evidently  does  not  go  to  church  to  make  a 
display  of  fine  clothes.  All  of  her  dress  that  was 
visible  —  her  straw  hat  with  a  single  ostrich 
plume,  her  silk  dress  and  mantle,  with  modest 
and  inexpensive  trimmings  —  cost  altogether  not 
much  more  than  some  of  the  very  fashionable  and 
expensive  hats  worn  by  some  of  the  very  fashion- 
able ladies  in  some  of  the  very  fashionable  Amer- 
ican churches.  The  moment  her  Majesty  got 
fairly  seated  she  searched  in  the  depths  of  one  of 
her  pockets,  and  drew  out  her  purse,  from  which 
she  extracted  a  ten-mark  gold  piece  ($2.50)  and 
carefully  placed  it  on  the  railing  in  front  of  her. 
This  was  to  be  ready  for  the  contribution-box, 
and  she  evidently  adhered  to  the  old  motto,  "  Pay 
as  you  go."  She  then  found  her  place  in  the 
prayer-book,  responded  throughout  the  services  in 
good  English,  and  joined  in  singing  the  hymns,  etc. 

And  she  wore  no  spectacles,  either ! 

The  rector  took  the  occasion  to  preach  a  "  char- 
ity "  sermon.  Every  word,  from  beginning  to  the 


62  GOING    TO    CHURCH    WITH    AN    EMPRESS. 

end,  dwelt  upon  the  poverty  and  the  wants  of  his 
"  struggling  church  "  and  the  immediate  necessity 
of  raising  funds  for  liquidating  its  burdensome 
debts.  The  appeal  that  he  made  to  the  congre- 
gation, and  especially  to  the  Empress,  was  really 
touching.  I  don't  think  that  any  sermon  ever 
preached  on  the  crucifixion  at  Mt.  Calvary  could 
have  reached  the  hearts  if  not  the  pockets  deeper 
than  this  discourse  of  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes- 
I  looked  around  expecting  to  see  everybody  weep- 
ing and  holding  out  their  purses  in  readiness  for 
the  contribution-box,  but  I  could  discover  no 
tears,  no  signs  of  melting  benevolence,  no  purses 
visible  ready  to  be  sacrificed  as  votive  offerings  on 
the  altar  of  charity.  I  did  notice,  however,  that 
every  eye  appeared  to  be  directed  toward  the 
Empress,  as  if  the  appeal  was  intended  for  her, 
and  her  alone,  and  that  they  were  weighing  in 
their  minds  how  heavily  in  marks  she  would 
respond  to  the  appeal. 

I  could  see  that  her  Majesty  was  steadily  eying 
the  ten-mark  piece  in  front  of  her,  as  if  hesitating 
whether  or  not  to  quietly  slip  it  back  into  her 
purse  and  replace  it  with  a  fifty  or  one  hundred 
mark  note.  She  evidently  felt  guilty  of  making  so 
small  an  offering,  and  might  have  made  the  ex- 
change had  she  not  been  conscious  that  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  congregation  and  the  rector,  too,  were 
centred  upon  her.  No  movement  was  made,  how- 
ever, for  making  the  transfer,  and  by  and  by  the 


CONTINENTAL    CHURCHES    AND    CHAPELS.  63 

piece  of  money  was  dropped  by  the  royal  fingers 
into  the  contribution-box  on  its  errand  of  mercy. 

After  the  benediction  was  pronounced  the  Em- 
press, with  her  maid  of  honor,  passed  down  the 
broad  aisle  preceded  by  Mr.  Oakes,  the  church- 
warden, and  the  congregation  remained  standing 
until  she  had  been  bowed  into  her  carriage  and 
driven  away  to  her  hotel. 

The  next  morning  she  sent  the  rector  one  hun- 
dred marks,  which  was  to  apply  toward  cancelling 
the  church  debt. 

All  of  these  little  English  churches  and  chapels 
on  the  Continent  seem  to  be  forever  deeply  in 
debt,  and  the  rectors  forever  on  the  verge  of 
starvation,  judging  from  the  piteous  appeals  for 
help  that  continually  issue  from  the  pulpits.  And 
these  appeals  come  not  from  the  pulpits  alone. 

English  and  American  tourists,  the  moment 
they  register  their  names  at  a  continental  hotel, 
are  assailed  with  circulars,  requesting  contributions 
for  paying  off  some  church  debt  or  the  building 
of  a  church.  If  they  do  not  receive  circulars  at 
the  hotels,  they  have  a  card,  circular,  or  a  note 
from  the  rector  quietly  slipped  in  their  hands 
when  they  venture  inside  of  a  church,  in  which 
they  are  requested  to  serve  the  Master's  cause  by 
contributing  liberally  as  possible  toward  the  erec- 
tion of  the  building  in  which  a  kind  Providence 
has  allowed  them  to  worship. 

The  appeals  are  not  in  vain.     Many  contribu- 


64       CONTINENTAL  CHURCHES  AND  CHAPELS. 

tions  flow  in,  occasionally  of  large  amounts  and 
especially  from  wealthy  Americans,  but,  strange  to 
say,  the  church  debts  never  seem  to  grow  less. 
The  clergymen  show  a  great  eagerness  to  get  as 
much  money  as  possible  out  of  tourists  during  the 
summer  months  in  anticipation  of  the  long  winter 
months  ahead,  when  tourists'  visits  are  few  and 
far  between,  and  instead  of  preaching  "  The  Cross 
and  Christ  Crucified,"  preach  the  "  Contribution- 
Box,"  and  convey  the  idea  that  salvation  is  only 
obtained  by  liberal  donations  through  this  channel. 

These  little  English  churches  and  chapels  are 
to  be  found  in  nearly  every  city,  village,  and  ham- 
let all  over  the  Continent  wherever  a  tourist  pene- 
trates. If  there  is  neither  church  nor  chapel, 
hotel  parlors  or  other  rooms  are  utilized  for  hold- 
ing church  service. 

It  is  a  great  comfort  to  many  English  and 
Americans  to  find  a  place  Sundays  where  they 
can  assemble  and  listen  to  church  services  in  the 
English  language.  It  is  a  good  work,  inasmuch 
as  it  gives  employment  to  a  large  number  of 
clergymen  who  cannot,  many  of  them,  get  "  liv- 
ings "  or  congregations  at  home,  on  account  of 

o  o       o 

poor  health,  defective  voices,  want  of  talent,  and 
who  come  out  here  and  gain  uncertain  liveli- 
hoods from  the  contributions  of  travellers. 

The  Americans  are  noted  for  their  generous 
donations  to  these  churches,  but  they  would  give 
still  more  liberally  and  freely  if  they  could  but 


FRAILTY    OF    PASTORS.  65 

sit  under  the  ministrations  of  some  of  the  really 
eloquent  and  devoted  Christian  clergymen  that 
they  are  accustomed  to  hear  preach  in  their  own 
churches  in  America. 

The  clergymen  who  are  sent  on  to  the  Conti- 
nent and  to  other  foreign  fields  of  labor,  by  the 
colonial  and  other  societies  of  London,  are  not, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  all  of  them  noted  for  either 
piety,  morality,  or  "cleverness  "  in  their  profession. 
Neither  are  all  of  those  who  come  out  on  their 
"  own  account  "  and  get  a  scanty  subsistence  by 
doing  a  species  of  missionary  work  in  whatever 
village  or  town  fortune  takes  them.  Few  of  them 
could  get  a  call  in  the  remotest  of  New  England 
towns. 

It  is  no  news  to  thousands  of  continental  travel- 
lers to  be  told  that  some  of  these  clergymen  are 
guilty  of  the  worst  of  vices,  —  intemperance,  riot- 
ous living,  etc.,  —  but  so  lenient  are  the  English 
Church  and  English  congregations  with  these 
offenders  that,  as  long  as  they  can  stand  up  in 
their  pulpits  and  mumble  through  the  service, 
they  are  allowed  to  remain  within  the  clerical 
fold.  This  is  a  painful,  humiliating  statement  or 
confession  to  make,  but  it  nevertheless  is  true. 

One  of  the  most  painful  martyrdoms  that 
Americans  surfer  when  they  come  abroad  —  I 
refer  to  those  "good  Americans"  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  attend  church  regularly  at  home  as 
a  religious  duty,  and  who  feel  the  necessity  of 


66        THE  EMPEROR  AS  A  CHURCH-GOER. 

attending   some    church    during  their  travels  on 

o  o 

this  side  of  the  Atlantic  —  is  the  sufferings  they 
endure  in  being  obliged  to  sit  under  such  preach- 
ers and  preaching.  It  is  one  of  the  "  crosses " 
they  bear,  and  probably  they  are  made  stronger, 
spiritually,  for  having  endured  so  patiently. 

The  Emperor  William  is  not  so  particular  as 
the  Empress  in  attending  to  church  duties.  He 
has  been  so  long  a  shuttlecock  between  the 
Romish,  Protestant,  and  Greek  churches,  and  has 
been  so  vilified  by  all  sects,  that  it  is  said  he  has 
lost  faith  in  all  religions.  He  occasionally  attends 
the  Protestant  service,  but  it  is  well  known  that 
he  shows  himself  in  the  sanctuary  more  as  an 
"  example "  to  his  subjects  than  for  any  real  in- 
terest he  takes  in  church  worship.  His  Majesty 
is  already  in  the  eighty-fifth  year,  is  still  hale  and 
hearty,  and  promises  well  for  many  years  more  of 
rule  ere  he  gives  up  the  sceptre  to  his  successor. 
He  has  but  two  children,  the  Crown  Prince,  who 
married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria, 
and  who,  Providence  permitting,  will  be  the  next 
Emperor  of  Germany,  and  the  wife  of  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Baden. 

Germany  is  composed  of  small  kingdoms, 
duchies,  and  principalities,  somewhat  as  the 
United  States  is  made  up  of  States.  The  duchy 
of  Baden  is  about  two  thirds  the  size  of  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  and  has  about  a  million  and  a 
half  inhabitants.  The  Grand  Duke  has  the  powers 


UI.ALTH    OF    THE    GRAND    DUKE.  6/ 

of  a  king  and  lives  like  a  king.     He  is  not  a  sub- 
ject of  the  Emperor,  neither  are  the  people  over 
whom  he   rules,  except   in   the   German  military 
organization,  and  the  liability  of  being  called  into 
service  in  case  of  war.     I  don't  think  the  duties 
of    the    Grand    Duke    are  any  more  responsible, 
numerous,  or  complicated  than  are  the  duties  of 
the  governor  of  either  one  of  the  New  England 
States ;   and  yet  if  the  farmers  and  mechanics  of 
Massachusetts    were   obliged  to  contribute   their 
share  of  taxes,  no  matter  how  small  the  amount, 
toward  paying  the  annual  salary  and  the  "  state " 
expenses  of  his  highness,  the  Grand  Duke,  there 
would  be  a  howl  that  would   make   the  old  Com- 
monwealth tremble  to  its  centre.     At  Carlsruhe, 
where  he  lives  during  the  winter  months,  he  has 
a  magnificent  palace,  which,  with  its  parks,  picture 
galleries,  stables,  etc.,  has  cost  millions  of  dollars. 
He  has  also  palaces  at  Mannheim  and  Schwetzin- 
gen.     At  Baden-Baden  he  has  a  grand  old  castle 
overhanging  the  town,  which  represents  enormous 
wealth,  not  only  the  castle  itself  and  its  extensive 
grounds,  but  in  its  large  collection  of  choice  paint- 
ings and  museum  of  antiques.     He  has  also  cas- 
tles scattered  all   over    his  dominions.     The  old 
castle  at  Heidelberg,  the  castles  of  Eberstein  and 
Favorita,   belong    to    his    estate.     The  palace    of 
Mainau,    situated    on    a    romantic    and    beautiful 
island    in  the  Lake  of  Constance,  also  belongs  to 
him.     In  Heidelberg  and  Freiburg  there  are  pala- 


68  THE    GRAND    DUKE'S    SALARY. 

tial  dwellings,  not  exactly  palaces,  that  are  his 
property,  and  in  which  he  can  spend  a  day  or 
night,  should  occasion  require.  I  don't  think  that 
the  least  costly  of  either  of  his  palaces  or  castles 
would  represent  less  wealth  than  the  cost  of  the 
State  House  at  Boston. 

To  keep  up  all  of  these  princely  establishments 
requires  an  army  of  servants  and  retainers,  and 
vast  sums  of  money,  which  come  indirectly  from 
the  pockets  of  the  people.  The  Grand  Duke  is 
paid  a  salary  of  1,000,000  marks  a  year,  equal  to 
about  $250,000;  this  is  in  addition  to  great  in- 
comes that  he  has  flowing  in  from  private  invest- 
ments and  various  resources.  What  would  the 
hard-working  farmers  of  the  Northern  States  say 
at  paying  their  governors  such  a  salary  as  this  ? 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MORE  GLIMPSES  OF  LIFE  AT  BADEN-BADEN.  —  PRECAUTIONS 
TAKEN  TO  '  SAVE  THE  E.MPEROR  FROM  ASSASSINATION.  — 
PRINCE  GORTSCHAKOFF.  —  A  GENTLEMAN  FROM  FIJI.  —  A 
HORSE  RACE  BEFORE  THE  EMPEROR  AND  EMPRESS,  IN  WHICH 
A  PRINCE  AND  A  GRAND  DUKE  COME  IN  FIRST  AND  SECOND. 
—  No  ENTHUSIASM. 

SINCE  so  many  attempts  have  been  made  in 
the  last  few  years  to  take  the  Emperor's  life, 
special  precautions  have  been  taken  to  guard 
against  any  repetitions  of  the  bungling  efforts  of 
these  would-be  regicides.  During  the  Emperor's 
stay  in  Baden-Baden  the  place  has  been  full  of 
secret  police  and  detectives  in  citizen's  dress,  who 
narrowly  watch  the  movements  of  every  stranger 
and  suspicious  person,  and  keep  a  sharp  lookout 
on  every  avenue  and  road  where  his  Majesty  takes 
his  daily  drive.  There  are  also  extra  numbers  of 
armed  and  uniformed  police  and  soldiers  stationed 
on  the  corners  of  the  different  streets  and  build- 
ings, whose  long,  dangling  swords,  dangerous-look- 
ing guns,  and  brass  helmets  glittering  in  the  sun, 
give  the  little  town  a  decidedly  military  appearance. 
In  passing  through  a  street  in  the  rear  of  the 
hotel  where  the  Emperor  resides,  I  noticed  that 


/O  THE    EMPERORS    PERIL. 

every  gateway  and  avenue  of  approach  to  the 
building  was  guarded  by  an  armed  sentry,  and  I 
saw  that  armed  soldiers  or  police  were  lazily  wan- 
dering about  on  the  lawns  and  in  the  gardens.  I 
think  it  would  be  difficult  for  a  tramp  to  penetrate 
as  far  as  the  back  door  to  beg  for  cold  pieces. 

It  was  only  a  few  years  since  that  an  attempt 
was  made  to  assassinate  the  Emperor  in  Baden- 
Baden.  While  walking  on  the  Lichtenthal  ave- 
nue a  man  shot  at  his  Majesty  from  the  oppo- 
site walk,  but  like  all  such  trembling  marksmen 
when  they  undertake  to  bring  down  such  big  game 
as  an  Emperor,  he  shot  wildly,  and,  instead  of 
hitting  his  Majesty,  the  ball  penetrated  one  of 
the  grand  oid  trees  which  shade  that  celebrated 
drive.  The  tree  came  near  suffering  the  fate  of 
the  famous  willow  that  overhung  the  tomb  of 
Napoleon  at  St.  Helena:  it  was  being  gradually 
carried  away  piecemeal  by  relic  hunters.  The 
limbs  and  twigs  they  could  not  reach,  but  the 
bark  on  the  body  was  disappearing  fast,  when  the 
town  authorities  gave  it  protection  by  encasing 
it  in  heavy  black  canvas  and  several  coats  of  tar ; 
but  this  did  not  suffice,  as  jack-knives  continued 
to  go  through  the  canvas  for  relics.  Then  the 
authorities  resorted  to  the  novel  idea  of  encasing 
two  of  the  adjoining  trees  in  the  same  manner. 
This  device  proved  successful,  for  now  strangers 
are  at  a  loss  which  of  the  three  trees  to  whittle, 
and  the  real  tree  escapes  further  mutilation. 


HONORS   TO   THE    EMPRESS.  71 

These  crowned  heads  cannot  live  very  happy 
and  peaceful  lives,  for  it  must  be  anything  but 
pleasant  for  them  to  be  forever  haunted  with  the 
fear  of  being  made  targets  of  every  time  they  ex- 
pose themselves  to  the  public.  Several  times 
recently  there  have  been  grand  illuminations 
and  fire-works  in  the  beautiful  grounds  of  the 
Conversationhaus.  They  were  given  in  honor  of 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  whose  residence,  the 
Hotel  Mesmer,  is  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the 
grounds,  and  from  whose  windows  and  balconies 
a  fine  view  could  be  had  of  the  brilliant  spectacle 
below.  It  was  thought  that  the  Emperor  would 
acknowledge  the  compliment  by  appearing  at  one 
of  the  windows  or  balconies  and  show  himself  to 
the  people,  but  they  looked  for  him  in  vain. 

Recently,  on  the  evening  of  the  Empress'  seven- 
tieth birthday,  extra  preparations  were  made  for 
celebrating  the  occasion  in  a  royal  manner,  with 
fire-works  and  illuminations  on  a  grand  scale.  In 
addition  to  the  regular  orchestral  band  which 
plays  daily  in  the  grounds,  the  splendid  military 
bands  from  Carlsruhe  and  Rastatt,  said  to  be  the 
finest  in  Germany,  came  over  to  aid  in  celebrat- 
ing the  seventieth  anniversary  of  their  Empress. 
Probably  finer  music  was  never  listened  to  in 
Baden-Baden,  or  a  more  magnificient  display  of 
fire-works  and  illuminations  ever  witnessed  in  this 
famous  watering-place.  It  was  thought  that  the 
Emperor  would,  of  course,  show  himself  during 


72  FEARS    OF   ASSASSINATION. 

the  evening  on  one  of  the  balconies,  or  at  one  of 
the  windows.  Crowds  of  people  stood  for  hours 
gazing  up  at  the  building  waiting  to  give  him  a 
hearty  ovation  in  the  way  of  German  cheers  the 
moment  he  should  make  his  appearance.  But  he 
failed  to  show  himself.  The  disappointment  was 
keenly  felt,  and  there  was  much  grumbling  and  ill- 
feeling  expressed  on  all  sides,  at  what  was  con- 
sidered a  lack  of  courtesy  and  appreciation  of  the 
good-will  and  kind  feelings  which  prompted  his 
subjects  to  make  such  an  elaborate  and  costly 
demonstration  in  honor  of  the  Empress. 

It  was  said  that  his  physician  would  not  allow 
him  to  be  exposed  to  the  night  air,  but  he  might 
have  appeared  at  one  of  the  windows  without  run- 
ning any  atmospheric  risk.  It  was  well  under- 
stood, however,  by  many,  that  he  would  not  show 
himself  in  the  night,  fearing  that  a  bullet  fired  by 
some  secret  assassin  would  at  last  do  its  deadly 
work. 

The  Emperor  is  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  and  is 
remarkably  well  preserved  for  an  octogenarian,  and 
for  one  who  has  lived  through  the  wear  and  tear 
of  nearly  fifty  years  of  court  life,  in  addition  to 
the  rough-and-tumble  of  a  long  military  career. 
He  looks  at  present  twenty  years  older  than 
when  I  saw  him  at  Homburg-les-bains,  the  first 
year  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  His  height 
is  six  feet  six,  or  it  was  then ;  he  had  a  fine 
military  figure,  and  did  not  appear  to  be  over 


PRINCE    GORTSCHAKOFF.  73 

sixty  or  sixty-five ;  but  now  he  has  grown  heavier 
and  stouter :  his  face  is  full  of  wrinkles,  and  old 
age  is  fast  settling  down  upon  him.  Old  age 
is  also  crushing  him  down  in  stature,  for  he  does 
not  look  as  tall  by  several  inches  as  when  I  saw 
him  taking  his  daily  promenade  at  Homburg. 

Among  the  many  celebrities  in  Baden-Baden, 
that  are  promenading  nearly  every  hour  in  the 
day,  perhaps  there  is  none  more  noted  or  that  has 
a  more  world-wide  reputation  than  Prince  Gorts- 
chakoff,  who  was  so  long  the  Imperial  Chancellor 
of  Russia,  and  who  for  many  years  controlled  a 
greater  influence  on  European  politics  than  any 
other  man  living.  He,  also,  is  passing  into  the 
sere  and  yellow  leaf,  being  upward  of  eighty,  and 
his  silvery  locks  and  tottering  step  giving  evi- 
dence that  he  is  nearly  ready  for  the  great  har- 
vester of  all.  Old  age  has  unfitted  him  for 
further  use  or  influence  in  the  Russian  cabinet, 
and  he  is  like  an  old  war-horse  that  has  been  dis- 
^carded  from  active  duty  after  years  of  hard  work 
in  his  country's  service.  He  spends  the  summer 
months  in  Baden-Baden  and  the  winters  in  South- 
ern France  or  Italy,  having  ignored  Russia  as  a 
place  of  residence.  Report  says  that  his  mind 
has  become  weak  and  childish,  and  that  he  con- 
stantly mourns  over  the  ingratitude  of  his  coun- 
try in  not  reinstating  him  in  power  as  in  days 
gone  by. 

Another    marked    personage,  now   in    Baden- 


74  A    GENTLEMAN    FROM    FIJI. 

Baden,  though  not  a  celebrity,  is  an  Englishman 
who  has  lived  the  last  twenty-five  years  at  the 
Fiji  Islands ;  so  long,  indeed,  that  he  has  almost 
acquired  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  natives. 
He  has  secured  large  wealth  during  his  sojourn 
there,  and  with  his  accumulated  treasures  has 
forever  bid  adieu  to  the  land  where  they  have  the 
reputation  of  roasting  missionaries  for  Sunday 
dinners,  and  serving  up  fat  babies  like  quails  on 
toast,  as  a  special  delicacy.  His  friends  say  that 
he  left  the  islands,  fearing  that  the  natives  might 
eventually  take  it  into  their  heads  to  barbecue 
him,  as  it  is  well  known  that  the  flesh  of  Euro- 
peans has  a  peculiarly  savory  taste  and  smell  to 
the  cannibals. 

Durinsr  the  last  few  months  he  has  been  mak- 

O 

ing  the  tour  of  Europe,  and  visiting  the  principal 
cities  and  the  most  fashionable  summer  resorts. 
Like  all  wealthy  tourists,  when  they  make  their 
first  continental  trip,  he  has  been  victimized  and 
swindled  without  mercy,  wherever  he  has  been,  by. 
hotel-keepers,  shop-keepers,  railway  employes,  and, 
in  fact,  by  every  one  with  whom  he  has  come  in 
contact.  He  says  if  this  is  civilization  he  is  sick 
and  disgusted  with  it,  and  that  he  is  anxious  to 
get  back  to  the  Fijis,  where  the  people  are  honest, 
conscientious,  and  don't  try  to  rob  him  in  every 
business  transaction.  Moreover,  he  is  disgusted 
with  the  European  style  of  dress,  and  the  costly 
manner  in  which  the  "  natives  "  here,  as  he  calls 


A  HORSE  RACE  BEFORE  ROYALTY.          75 

them,  load  themselves  down  with  the  most  expen- 
sive and  ridiculous-looking  costumes. 

"  Dress  at  the  Fijis,"  he  said,  "  is  not  expensive 
or  extensive.  It  is  but  a  slight  improvement  on 
the  fig-leaves  worn  by  our  first  ancestors.  A  very 
short  smock  or  a  cotton  twist  around  the  loins 
was  all  the  wardrobe  that  a  person  required.  It 
did  not  go  out  of  style  every  three  or  six  months, 
and  seldom  needed  replenishing.  It  is  an  econom- 
ical country  to  live  in." 

A  few  weeks  ago  the  last  of  the  Baden-Baden 
fall  races  took  place.  As  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press, the  German  court,  together  with  a  large 
number  of  German  grand  dukes  and  princes 
were  to  be  present,  extra  pains  were  taken  to 
secure  some  of  the  best  and  most  noted  horses  in 
Germany  to  contend  for  the  liberal  prizes  that 
were  offered.  Several  famous  horses  were  also 
sent  over  from  England,  that  were  accompanied 
by  professional  English  jockeys,  sporting  and 
betting  men. 

The  race-course  is  at  Iffezheim,  a  small  village 
six  miles  out  of  Baden.  There  are  several  large, 
handsome  buildings  and  pavilions  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  royal  family  and  visitors  of  the 
first  rank,  for  the  International  Club,  and  for 
invited  guests,  besides  a  grand  stand  for  the  pub- 
lic at  large. 

The  race-course  is  different  from  those  we  are 
accustomed  to  see  in  America.  The  track, 


/6  THE    RACE-COURSE. 

instead  of  being  like  a  turnpike  road,  is  a  firm 
green  turf  closely  clipped,  and  in  place  of  a  mile 
or  half-mile  circle,  it  extends  four  miles  in  one 
irregular  sweep,  with  many  turns  and  corners  to 
make,  besides  a  large  number  of  hurdles,  hedges, 
and  wide  ditches  or  canals  to  leap  during  the 
circuit.  So  great  is  the  distance  that  when  the 
horses  reach  the  furthermost  point  from  the  grand 
stand  they  can  only  be  seen  with  the  aid  of  pow- 
erful field-glasses. 

It  was  a  little  late  when  I  arrived  on  the  ground, 
and  I  supposed  that  the  first  race  had  taken  place* 
Seeing  one  of  the  English  sporting  men,  with  his 
book  in  hand,  calling  out  for  bets  on  different 
horses,  I  asked  him  which  horse  had  won  the  last 
heat. 

"  Last  'eat,  sir !  We  Ve  'ad  no  'eat  yet.  We  Ve 
been  waiting  for  the  old  man." 

"  What  old  man  ?  "  I  ventured  to  ask. 

"  Aow !  Don't  you  know  ?  Why,  Kaiser  Billy,, 
of  course." 

From  this  I  inferred  that  the  Emperor  had  not 
yet  arrived  ;  so  I  went  back  to  the  entrance  of  the 
course,  and  I  had  been  there  but  a  moment  when 
the  Emperor's  carriage,  drawn  by  eight  elegant 
bay  horses,  preceded  by  outriders,  came  dashing 
up  to  the  royal  pavilion  at  a  rapid  pace. 

It  was  a  pretty  sight,  —  the  postilions,  outriders, 
and  footman  all  in  their  bright  scarlet  liveries,, 
trimmed  with  gold  and  silver  lace,  their  faces 


ARRIVAL    OF    THE    EMPEROR    AXD    EMPRESS.  77 

flushed  with  the  excitement  of  their  long  and 
rapid  ride.  On  the  back  seat  of  the  handsome 
open  carriage  sat  the  Emperor  alone,  in  citizen's 
dress,  even  to  the  conventional  "  stove-pipe  "  hat, 
while  on  the  seat  in  front  of  him  was  his  son,  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Germany,  and  his  son-in-law,  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  also  in  citizen's  dress. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  the  Empress  arrived  on 
the  grounds  and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  royal 
pavilion.  Her  "  turn-out  "  was  similar  to  the  Em- 
peror's, with  the  same  number  of  outriders,  postil- 
ions, attendants,  etc.,  but  her  horses  were  elegant 
coal  blacks  instead  of  bays. 

I  will  not  describe  the  different  races,  —  all  were 
intensely  exciting, — but  the  one  that  interested  me 
most  was  a  grand  army  race,  which  was  ridden  only 
by  officers  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  German  army. 

With  a  prize  of  four  thousand  marks  ($1,000) 
awaiting  the  rider  that  should  come  in  first,  in  ad- 
dition to  a  splendid  silver  service,  a  present  from 
the  Emperor,  and  to  be  presented  to  the  winner 
by  the  Emperor  himself,  it  may  be  judged  that  it 
was  almost  a  life  or  death  struggle  to  the  horse 
and  the  rider  as  to  who  should  first  reach  the 
judge's  stand  on  the  home  stretch.  In  front  of 
the  royal  pavilion  and  grand  stand  there  was  a 
canal  full  of  water,  about  fifteen  or  eighteen  feet 
wide,  on  the  borders  of  which  was  an  artificial 
hedge  several  feet  high.  Both  canal  and  hedge 
were  to  be  cleared  at  one  leap. 


78  THE    START. 

The  six  officers  who  were  to  contend  for  the 
prizes,  all  in  full  uniform,  even  to  their  long 
cavalry  sabres,  and  mounted  on  splendid  horses, 
started  about  an  eighth  of  a  mile  above  the  grand 
stand  and  came  rushing  down  like  so  many  wild 
centaurs.  They  reached  the  hedge  nearly  abreast, 
and  I  held  my  breath  as  the  horses  rose  on  their 
hind  legs  to  make  the  fearful  leap.  Not  one  of 
them  faltered  or  hesitated ;  over  they  went  to  the 
opposite  bank,  and  sped  away  in  the  distance  like 
so  many  deer  hounds. 

As  they  go  in  an  opposite  direction  from  the 
spectators,  no  one  can  tell  which  rider  is  ahead^ 
but  we  can  see  the  horses  as  they  occasionally 
rise  up  and  leap  the  hedges,  hurdles,  and  canals 
that  lie  in  their  way. 

Once  they  turn  out  of  the  regular  course  and 
dash  through  a  good-sized  river,  and  the  splash- 
ing waters  for  a  moment  blind  them  from  sight. 
On  they  speed,  each  moment  growing  smaller 
and  smaller  to  the  eye.  As  they  make  the  turn 
in  the  far  distance  they  can  scarcely  be  distin- 
guished ;  they  look  like  so  many  rabbits  trying 
their  speed.  Back  they  come,  now  on  the  return 
track.  More  hedges  and  canals  to  clear;  over 
they  go.  Part  of  the  horses  are  falling  behind ; 
the  strain  to  them  is  terrible.  The  two  that  are 
ahead  are  neck  and  neck.  Four  thousand  marks 
and  a  silver  service  from  the  Emperor  to  the  rider 
that  gets  in  first,  even  though  his  horse's  nose 


NECK    AND    NECK.  79 

is  but  three  inches  ahead  of  all  the  others  !  But 
the  money  and  the  service  is  of  no  account  com- 
pared to  the  glory  of  being  declared  the  winner. 

No  wonder  they  are  straining  every  nerve,  no 
matter  if  they  do  kill  their  horses,  and  if  they  are 
worth  their  weight  in  silver.  One  of  the  lagging 
horses  with  his  rider  suddenly  disappears.  It  failed 
to  reach  the  opposite  bank  of  the  last  canal,  and 
has  gone  under  with  its  rider;  but  no  matter,  they 
will  crawl  out  at  their  leisure.  None  of  the  other 
riders  even  look  behind  to  see  what  has  become  of 
their  unfortunate  competitor.  On  they  go.  But 
see !  now  they  turn  from  their  course  again,  and 
all  dash  boldly  up  a  high,  precipitous  bank,  which 
is  like  the  steep  bank  of  some  great  river.  They 
reach  the  table-land  above,  and  on  they  come 
again  like  the  wind.  It  is  a  fine  sight, — horses 
and  riders  outlined  against  the  blue  sky  beyond. 

The  two  foremost  horses  are  still  neck  and 
neck;  one  is  ridden  by  a  prince  and  the  other  by 
a  duke.  The  other  horses  are  so  far  behind  that 
there  is  no  chance  of  either  of  them  coming  in 
first,  but  their  riders  afe  still  urging  them  on  with 
whip  and  spur.  Can  they  reach  the  valley  again 
down  that  high  bank  at  such  a  break-neck  speed 
and  not  tumble  in  a  chaotic  heap  together  ?  Yes, 
down  they  come  the  rough  descent  with  fearful 
leap  ;  not  a  horse  stumbles. 

On  they  come  ;  they  are  not  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  judges'  stand ;  they  are  so  near  we  can  dis- 


8O  ON    THE    HOME    STRETCH. 

tinguish  the  colors  of  the  broad  silk  sashes  on  the 
riders'  shoulders.  One  more  hedge  to  leap.  Will 
they  clear  it  ?  The  horses  show  the  effects  of  the 
terrible  four-mile  race  and  are  covered  with  foam. 

As  they  near  the  hedge,  the  riders  ply  their 
whips  and  bury  their  spurs  into  the  noble  animals 
to  make  the  final  leap.  The  two  foremost  go  over 
with  a  bound,  and  the  others  come  up  and  over 
they  go,  —  no,  not  all,  for  one  of  them,  as  he  rises 
in  the  air  to  make  the  leap,  hesitates,  his  strength 
fails  him,  he  falls  back  upon  the  ground,  his  rider 
beneath  him. 

All  interest  is  now  centred  on  the  two  foremost 
riders,  —  the  prince  and  the  duke.  Bets  are 
quickly  made  and  taken  by  the  friends  of  both. 
The  horses  are  coming  down  like  a  whirlwind  on 
the  home-stretch  ;  the  riders  are  wild  with  excite- 
ment ;  they  shout,  and  scream,  and  ply  not  only 
their  whips  and  spurs,  but  their  sabres  to  the 
horses'  flanks.  I  can  see  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  craning  their  heads  out  of  the  windows 
of  the  royal  pavilion,  eagerly  watching  the  contest. 

The  red  scarf,  the  duke,  is  half  a  length  ahead ; 
bets  are  doubling  on  him.  He  gains  a  full 
length ;  the  gray  scarf,  the  prince,  will  lose. 
They  are  within  a  hundred  feet  of  the  line  by  the 
judges'  stand  ;  the  next  few  seconds  will  decide 
it.  The  prince,  wearing  the  gray  scarf,  rises  up 
in  his  saddle  to  make  his  last  desperate  effort  to 
retrieve  the  distance  he  has  fallen  behind.  He 


THE    GRAY   SCARF    WINS.  8 1 

sees  the  Emperor  and  Empress  waving  their 
handkerchiefs  to  him  from  their  pavilion.  I 
don't  know  how  he  overcame  the  distance,  but  he 
did.  I  was  too  excited  to  think  or  look.  The 
gray  scarf  was  the  winner,  and  the  four  thou- 
sand marks  and  the  silver  service  were  his. 
Hurrah  for  the  prince  ! 

Now  was  the  strangest  scene  of  all  to  me  as  an 
American.  Such  a  trial  of  speed  at  an  American 
race-course,  and  the  final  desperate  struggle  of  the 
two  such  distinguished  riders  to  come  in  first, 
would  have  made  an  American  crowd  of  specta- 
tors wild  with  excitement ;  they  would  have 
cheered  the  winner  until  they  were  hoarse,  and 
it  would  have  taken  an  army  of  policemen  to  have 
kept  the  crowd  back  from  embracing  both  horse 
and  rider  when  the  trial  was  over.  But  here 
there  was  no  manifestation  of  joy,  no  cheers,  no 
excitement,  as  I  could  discover,  whatever.  I  don't 
think  there  were  half  a  dozen  persons  that  went 
forward  to  congratulate  the  winner  of  the  prizes  on 
his  good  fortune.  It  was  the  same  at  all  the 
races ;  there  was  little  or  no  enthusiasm,  every- 
thing was  sober,  matter  of  fact,  as  if  the  people 
had  come  out  to  witness  a  disagreeable  spectacle, 
or  one  that  they  could  take  no  interest  in.  But 
perhaps  the  Germans  have  not  been  educated  as 
yet  to  horse-racing  so  as  to  thoroughly  enjoy  and 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  it,  like  the  English  and 
Americans. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

WURTEMBERG. — ITS  KlNG  AND  NOBILITY. — A  POCKET  KING- 
DOM SCARCELY  RECOGNIZABLE  ON  THE  MAPS.  —  THE  PAY 
THAT  ROYALTY  AND  THE  NOBILITY  RECEIVE.  —  GERMAN 
BOOK-KEEPING.  —  WHERE  THE  MONEY  COMES  FROM. —  THE 
KING'S  PALACES. —  STUTTGART,  THE  CAPITAL. 

IF  you  would  like  to  see  a  pocket  edition  of  a 
little  kingdom, —  a  tiny  little  kingdom,  with  a 
real  live  king  and  queen,  with  lackeys  in  livery 
thicker  than  rooks  in  England,  —  then  come  to 
Wiirtemberg,  of  which  Stuttgart  is  the  capital. 

Here  you  will  find  the  little  volume,  gilt-edged, 
"bound  in  calf," — fresh,  as  it  were,  from  the 
press,  —  to  be  looked  at,  but  not  for  sale,  not  even 
handled.  Even  the  Emperor  William  could  not 
trade  for  it,  neither  has  he  money  enough  in  his 
pocket  or  in  the  dime  savings  bank  to  purchase  it 
as  a  dainty  toy,  or  a  rare  souvenir  to  place  on  his 
library  table,  or  among  his  collection  of  bric-a- 
brac. 

We  hear  of  the  king  of  •  Italy,  the  king  of 
Spain,  the  king  of  Prussia,  the  king  of  Belgium, 
and  of  Norway  and  Sweden,  and  various  other 
kings,  but  when  we  hear  of  the  king  of  Wiirtem- 
berg, nine  Americans  out  of  ten  —  for  America  is 
nearly  four  thousand  miles  away  —  come  to  a 


THE    KINGDOM   OF    WURTEMBERG.  83 

stand-still  in  their  geographical  knowledge,  and 
naturally  inquire,  "Where  is  Wurtemberg?  " 

It  will  be  doubtful  if  you  can  find  it  on  one  of 
the  school  atlases.  Find  a  map  of  Europe  that 
will  cover  the  side  wall  of  a  small  bedroom,  and 
you  will  probably  find  Wurtemberg  occupying 
the  space  of  what  appears  to  be  a  small  township, 
fitting  in  like  the  section  of  a  child's  puzzle 
between  the  numerous  duchies  and  principalities 
that  help  form  the  German  Confederation. 

The  Wurtembergers  claim  that  their  kingdom 
contains  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  German 
square  miles  of  territory,  which  is  a  square  mile 
for  every  day  in  the  year ;  but  the  neighboring 
duchies  are  jealous  of  the  kingdom  which  makes 
their  own  titles  of  royalty  and  nobility  so  insignif- 
icant, and  say  that  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  is 
a  gross  exaggeration  of  its  real  size,  and  that  a 
good  pedestrian  will  easily  walk  around  it  in 
twenty-four  or  thirty-six  hours.* 

The  kingdom  has  about  one  million  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants.  It  is  indeed  a  small 
kingdom,  but  what  it  lacks  in  size  of  territory  it 
makes  up  in  putting  on  a  grand  show  of  royalty 
and  extravagant  splendor. 

The  king  and  queen  reside  in  Stuttgart  through 
the  winter,  and  they  live  in  as  much  style  and 

*  A  German  square  mile  embraces  about  twenty  times  as  much  terri- 
tory as  an  English  square  mile,  so  that  the  little  kingdom  covers  7,531 
miles  by  our  standard,  or  less  than  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  has 
7,800  miles. 


84  ROYAL    PALACES    AND    THE    KING'S    PARK. 

grandeur  as  did  ever  Louis  XVI.  in  the  Tuileries 
at  Paris.  The  palace,  which  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  finest  in  Germany,  forms  three  sides  of  a 
square,  and  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  Louvre  in 
Paris,  which  it  resembles  in  architecture.  It  con- 
tains over  three  hundred  and  seventy  rooms,  in 
addition  to  its  vast  halls  and  corridors.  These 
rooms,  of  course,  are  all  elegantly  furnished,  and 
are  overflowing  with  wealth  in  the  shape  of  rare 
paintings,  statuary,  bronzes,  and  vast  collections 
of  costly  bric-a-brac  and  objects  of  vertu. 

Within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  new  palace,  as  it 
is  called,  although  built  about  one  hundred  years 
ago,  is  the  old  castle  or  palace,  an  immense  build- 
ing with  high  round  towers  at  each  of  its  four  cor- 
ners, and  evidently  constructed  with  the  intention 
of  its  being  a  place  of  refuge  and  a  fortress  for 
defence  during  the  old  German  wars.  This  old 
castle  was  built  over  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  by  one  of  the  ancestors  of  the  present  king, 
and  was  occupied  by  the  royal  family  until  the  new 
palace  was  built.  At  present  it  serves  as  an  ap- 
pendix, with  cook-house,  servants'  quarters,  lava- 
tory, etc.,  for  the  royal  palace. 

At  the  right  of  the  palace,  and  extending  a  dis- 
tance of  two  miles  to  the  village  of  Cannstadt,  is 
the  King's  Park,  an  elegant  stretch  of  woods,  which 
is  the  king's  private  property,  although  open  to  the 
public.  This  park  is  beautifully  embellished  its 
whole  length,  and  made  as  attractive  as  great 


THE    KING'S   STABLES.  85 

wealth  and  taste  can  possibly  make  it.  Its  mac- 
adamized walks  and  drives  are  adorned  with  fine 
statuary,  its  fish-ponds  are  full  of  beautiful  and  rare 
fish,  and  on  the  quiet  waters  of  its  artificial  lakes 
all  varieties  of  swan  and  water  fowl  are  to  be  seen. 
In  the  centre  of  the  large  lake  there  is  a  magnifi- 
cent fountain,  throwing  a  great  body  of  water  to 
the  height  of  over  one  hundred  feet.  At  the  upper 
end  of  the  park,  and  near  the  palace,  are  the  king's 
stables,  which  must  be  several  hundred  feet  long,  and 
horses  enough  in  them  for  a  squadron  of  cavalry. 

There  are  also  elegant  coaches,  carriages,  drags, 
dog-carts,  and  all  manner  of  vehicles  for  the  royal 
household.  There  are  state  carriages  of  splendid 
make,  to  be  used  on  state  occasions,  and  drawn  by 
four  and  six  horses,  with  postilions  and  outriders; 
there  are  handsome  carriages,  to  be  used  only  by 
the  king,  and  those  to  be  used  only  by  the  queen, 
and  others  for  royal  guests  and  visitors. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  "  How  can  all  this  style  and 
expense  be  kept  up  when  the  kingdom  is  so  small, 
and  its  revenues  must  necessarily  be  limited  ? " 

The  government  of  Wurtemberg  is  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  the  government  of  Prussia,  and  of  all  the 
other  petty  kingdoms,  duchies,  and  principalities 
which  form  the  German  Confederation.  It  has  its 
own  code  of  laws,  and  administers  them  without  ref- 
erence to  any  other  government  or  power,  although 
many  of  the  laws  are  the  same  as  those  in  force  in 
Prussia  and  other  parts  of  Germany.  The  Empe- 


86          HOW  THE  KINGDOM  IS  GOVERNED. 

ror  or  the  imperial  government  has  no  control  over 
it  politically  or  financially,  and  the  only  power  the 
Emperor  exercises  is  a  military  power,  and  the 
right  to  call  upon  it  for  troops  in  case  of  war,  and 
for  money  to  defray  the  costs  of  war,  and  an  annual 
military  tax  to  support  the  German  army  ;  from 
which  assessment  the  Wurtemberg  troops  receive 
their  pay  in  common  with  the  others. 

Previous  to  the  confederation  of  the  German 
states,  in  1871,  Wurtemberg  was  independent  as  a 
military  power,  and  paid  no  "  tribute  to  Caesar  "  at 
Berlin  for  war  purposes.  The  little  kingdom  still 
has  its  Parliament  with  its  House  of  Lords  and 
House  of  Commons,  which  are  similar  in  their 
organization  and  manner  of  conducting  business 
to  the  Houses  of  Lords  and  Commons  in  Eng- 
land. Its  House  of  Lords  is  composed  of  forty- 
eight  members  of  the  hereditary  nobility,  whose 
tenure  of  ofHce  holds  through  life.  This  body  is 
presided  over  by  the  king,  or  is  supposed  to  be, 
though  he  seldom  goes  near  it  except  at  the  open- 
ing of  a  session,  once  in  three  years,  when  he  is 
expected  to  be  present.  The  lower  House  has 
ninety-three  members,  who  are  chosen  annually  by 
the  people  from  different  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

I  have  before  me  the  printed  "  budget "  of  the 
king's  treasurer  of  the  expenses  for  running  this 
little  kingdom  during  the  year  1881.  I  wish  I 
could  enter  here  the  whole  budget  for  inspection 
of  all  accountants,  and  also  for  the  inspection 


HOW  THE  TREASURY  IS  REPLENISHED.       8/ 

of  many  of  our  State  treasurers,  to  whom  I  know 
it  would  be  interesting  as  a  sample  of  perfect 
book-keeping  and  the  thorough  manner  in  which 
the  Wurtemberg  government  keeps  its  accounts. 
The  Germans  are  noted  for  the  careful  manner  in 
which  they  keep  all  their  accounts,  especially 
with  the  government.  Ink  and  labor  are  cheap. 
Every  item  of  expense,  no  matter  how  small,  is 
carried  out  in  full,  even  if  it  is  but  for  a  box  of 
matches  that  would  cost  half  a  farthing,  and  the 
person's  name  to  whom  the  money  is  paid.  No 
expenses  at  the  end  of  an  account  are  carried  out 
as  "  Sundies,"  "  Miscellaneous,"  "  etc.,"  which  so 
often  in  America  include  boxes  of  cigars,  oyster 
and  wine  suppers,  boxes  of  champagne,  etc.  This 
way  of  dodging  the  facts  in  covering  over  unauthor- 
ized expenditures  is  not  allowed  by  the  Germans. 

I  find  in  the  budget  that  the  total  expenses  of 
the  government  for  the  past  year,  which  includes 
the  salary  of  the  king  and  others  of  the  royal 
family  to  whom  pensions  are  annually  given, 
amounts  to  $12,429,002.  This  amount  includes 
nothing  for  a  navy,  as  they  have  none,  and  noth- 
ing for  the  army.  Of  this  amount  $6,916,869  is 
raised  by  direct  taxation  on  all  the  people 
throughout  the  kingdom  who  hold  property  of  any 
kind;  and  the  balance,  $5,512,135,  is  derived  from 
the  forests,  which  belong  to  the  crown,  from  the 
profits  of  the  railways  and  telegraphs,  which  be- 
long to  the  government,  and  from  the  annual  har- 


88  THE    FORESTS    AS    TAX-PAYERS. 

vest  of  wheat,  oats,  and  barley,  which  comes  out  of 
the  tillers  of  the  soil.  It  seems  that  for  ages  past 
the  government,  in  accordance  with  an  old  usage, 
has  the  right  of  taking  toll  of  the  farmers  of  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  their  crops  after  the  harvest,  the 
proceeds  of  which  are  applied,  first,  toward  paying 
a  stated  amount  toward  the  king's  salary  and  to 
members  of  the  royal  family,  and  the  balance 
toward  defraying  government  expenses. 

All  of  the  magnificent  forests  throughout  Ger- 
many, but  with  here  and  there  an  occasional 
exception,  are  the  property  of  the  crown,  and  are 
planted,  cultivated,  and  watched  over  with  as  much 
care  and  interest  as  so  many  flower-gardens.  Not 
a  tree  can  be  cut  without  the  permission  of  the 
forester  whom  the  king  places  in  charge,  and  not  a 
stick  can  be  purchased  without  paying  the  forester 
an  exorbitant  price.  The  revenue  derived  from 
these  forests  thoughout  Germany,  from  the  certain 
amount  of  wood  that  is  permitted  to  be  sold  from 
them  each  year,  is  something  enormous,  and  goes 
a  great  way  toward  paying  for  the  extravagance 
of  royalty,  besides  contributing  largely  in  defraying 
government  expenses. 

While  walking  recently  through  the  Black  For- 
est I  saw  a  beggarly  looking  old  man  hard  at 
work  by  the  roadside,  digging  holes  with  a  pick 
and  shovel.  I  stopped  and  asked  him  what  the 
holes  were  for,  and  he  said  they  were  for  planting 
trees.  Straightening  up  as  much  as  his  bent 


SALARIES    PAID    THE    NOBILITY.  89 

figure  would  allow  him,  he  told  me  of  his  troubles, 
—  that  the  day  before  while  picking  up  a  handful 
of  fagots  and  twigs  that  had  fallen  from  the 
trees,  he  had  been  arrested  by  the  king's  forester, 
and  sentenced  to  dig  one  hundred  holes  for  tree- 
planting.  The  poor,  half-starved  German  woman 
who  has  toiled  in  the  field  like  an  ox  (cow,  I 
should  say,  as  they  have  no  oxen  in  this  country) 
for  money  sufficient  to  purchase  a  few  sticks  of 
wood  to  boil  her  potatoes,  has  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  she  has  contributed  her  mite  toward 
the  king's  pleasure  and  for  keeping  up  the  mag- 
nificence that  surrounds  him. 

I  find  that  the  revenue  derived  from  the  forests 
in  Wiirtemberg  during  the  past  year  amounts  to 
$1,3^4,512.  In  the  "civil  list,"  as  published  in  the 
budget,  the  following  amounts  are  paid  as  salaries 
and  annuities  to  the  king  and  to  other  members  of 
the  royal  family.  Of  course  the  king's  salary  heads 
the  list.  I  will  reduce  the  marks  to  dollars  :  — 

His  Majesty  King  Carl  Frederic $462,119 

His  Royal  Highness  the  Crown  Prince  ....  25,699 

Duke  Frederick  William 9,926 

Duke  William  Ferdinand 7,767 

Duke  Alexander 7,406 

Prince  August 5,397 

Her  Royal  Highness  Princess  Catharine"       .         .         .  5,357 

Duke  William 4,955 

Duchess  Helena 3,86i 

Duchess  Matilda 3,86i 

Duke  Nicholas 2,812 

Duchess  Vera 2,143 


9O  THE    AMOUNT    PAID    THE    KING. 

But  I  will  not  extend  the  list  further,  although  this 
does  not  comprise  all  the  names,  neither  does  it 
cover  all  the  amounts  that  are  paid  to  other  head- 
ings and  through  indirect  channels  from  the  royal 
treasury. 

The  king  has  three  sisters  living  in  Stuttgart,  — 
Princess  Weimer;  Princess  Marie,  Countess  of 
Neipperg;  and  Princess  Catherine,  who  is  the 
mother  of  the  Crown  Prince,  the  king  having  no 
children  of  his  own.  Each  of  these  sisters,  and 
also  the  Crown  Prince,  have  separate  palaces,  and 
live  in  a  style  of  grandeur  nearly  equal  to  that 
of  the  king.  Their  palaces  are  large  and  pala- 
tial to  the  fullest  extent ;  armed  sentinels,  dressed 
in  German  military  uniforms,  guard  all  the  ap- 
proaches night  and  day,  while  liveried  footmen, 
lackeys,  and  waiters  seem  to  outnumber  those  who 
wait  upon  the  king.  Of  the  king's  salary,  $400,- 
ooo  he  receives  in  cash,  which  is  raised  by  direct 
taxation;  $25,500  he  receives  in  wood  from  the 
crown  forests;  and  $37,618.75  is  allowed  him  in 
wheat,  oats,  and  barley.  Whatever  wood  is  used 
in  the  palaces  for  heating  or  cooking,  and  the 
grain  fed  to  the  horses  in  the  royal  stables  and  in 
various  other  ways,  are  charged  to  the  king  under 
their  separate  headings,  and,  after  being  deducted 
from  the  amount  that  he  is  permitted  to  draw  of 
the  different  products,  the  balance  is  sold  by  his 
agents,  and  the  proceeds  placed  to  his  credit  in 
cash. 


WEALTH    OF   THE   ROYAL    FAMILY.  QI 

To  those  who  think  the  salaries  of  one,  two,  or 
three  thousand  dollars  and  upwards,  paid  to  the 
governors  of  our  New  England  States  and  many 
of  our  other  States,  are  excessive,  I  would  refer 
them  to  the  salary  of  nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars 
that  is  paid  the  king  of  Wurtemberg,  whose  duties 
are  not  more  burdensome,  more  numerous,  or 
more  responsible  than  are  those  of  the  governor 
of  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut.  But  the  large 
amount  that  is  paid  the  king  probably  does  not 
half  cover  his  annual  expenses  and  the  large  sums 
that  he  is  constantly  called  upon  to  contribute  to 
charitable  and  other  purposes.  He  has  a  large 
private  fortune  of  his  own  from  which  he  derives 
a  great  income,  and  the  queen,  who  is  a  sister  of 
the  late  Emperor  of  Russia,  has,  in  addition,  an 
enormous  fortune  which  she  inherited  from  her 
royal  father.  It  would  seem  that,  with  all  their 
great  private  wealth,  they  might  easily  dispense 
with  the  half-million  dollars  that  is  derived,  a 
great  share  of  it,  from  the  hard-working  people  of 
the  kingdom. 

In  addition  to  the  two  large,  elegant  palaces  in 
Stuttgart,  the  king  has  several  other  palaces  and 
two  fine  old  castles  scattered  about  the  kingdom, 
which  he  visits  occasionally,  staying  in  them  only 
a  few  days  during  the  year.  These  grand  resi- 
dences, costing  enormous  sums,  and  each  re- 
quiring a  good-sized  fortune  every  year  to  keep  up, 
seem  to  be  as  common  and  of  as  little  impor- 


92  STUTTGART    THE    CAPITAL. 

tance  to  him  as  the  abandoned  playthings  of  a 
child  reared  in  wealth  and  luxury. 

He  has  elegant  palaces  in  Ludwigsburg,  at  Land- 
haus-Rossenstein,  at  Friedricshafen,  at  Cannstadt, 
and  at  Berg ;  and  then  there  are  castles  at  Beben- 
hausen  and  Ellwangen,  besides  private  villas  and 
hunting  lodges  in  the  smaller  towns  and  in  the 
larger  forests,  where  he  can  take  refuge  with  a 
party  of  friends  if  overtaken  by  a  storm  or  the  dark- 
ness of  night  while  shooting.  The  sum  total  of 
the  value  of  all  these  different  establishments  and 
the  amount  of  money  it  costs  annually  for  their 
maintenance  are  items  that  do  not  appear  in  the 
budget  of  the  kingdom's  expenses.  Each  of  the 
palaces  and  castles  are  supposed  to  be  always  in  a 
state  of  readiness  and  completeness,  so  that  the 
royal  family  with  any  number  of  invited  guests 
can  take  possession  of  them  at  any  hour  of  the 
day,  and  find  everything  in  housekeeping  order 
with  plenty  of  servants  and  lackeys  to  run  at  every 
beck  and  nod. 

Stuttgart  is  a  beautiful  city  of  one  hundred  and 
ten  thousand  inhabitants,  and,  though  not  as  large 
as  Berlin,  Dresden,  Leipsic,  or  Munich,  yet  none 
of  those  cities  can  boast  of  more  elegant  public  and 
private  buildings,  palaces,  parks,  squares,  fine  blocks 
of  stores  and  warehouses,  and  broad,  wide,  clean- 
kept  streets  than  this. 

Its  railway  station  is  a  model  in  its  way,  and  is 
said  to  be  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  in  Europe. 


A    PLEASANT    CITY    TO    RESIDE    IX.  93 

Stuttgart  is  among  the  many  foreign  cities  where 
the  American  does  not  suffer  homesickness  the 
first  hour  of  his  arrival,  for  there  is  an  air  of 
newness  and  civilization  and  cleanliness  about  it 
that  makes  him  feel  he  is  in  a  city  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  and  not  one  built  before  the  flood, 
and  still  inhabited  by  one  of  the  lost  tribes  of 
Israel.  For  a  German  city  it  is  remarkably  clean, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  the  fifty-nine 
distinct  smells  that  Coleridge  declared  to  exist  at 
Cologne,  and  which  seem  to  still  infest  many  of 
the  German  cities  and  towns. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

MUSICAL  GERMANY.  —  THE   CONSERVATOIRE   AT    STUTTGART. 

—  A  ClTV    GIVEN    OVER  TO    THE    DISCORDS    OF   MUSICAL 
PRACTICE.  — •  How  THE  CONCEIT  is  TAKEN  OUT  OF  AMER- 
ICAN  PRODIGIES  WHO   GO  TO  GERMANY  TO   FINISH  THEIR 
MUSICAL  EDUCATION.  —  CONCERTS  AT  THE   LIEDERHALLE. 

—  BEER,  Music,  AND  LUNCHES  COMBINED. 

OTUTTGART  is  one  of  the  great  musical  cen- 
O  tres  of  Germany.  Every  city,  town,  and 
village  in  Germany,  in  fact,  is  a  musical  centre ; 
every  German  family  is  a  musical  centre,  and 
every  German  in  himself  is  a  living  combination 
of  musical  mechanism.  But  Stuttgart  is  one  of 
the  principal  cities  where  the  attention  of  the 
whole  population  is  devoted  to  music  and  the 
teaching  of  music.  It  is  noted  for  its  Conserva- 
toire of  Music,  which  is  considered  to  be  the  finest 
in  Europe.  It  numbers  nearly  one  thousand 
pupils,  who  come  here  from  the  different  coun- 
tries in  Europe  and  America. 

In  addition  to  the  Conservatoire  there  are  a 
great  many  schools  of  music  of  smaller  and  differ- 
ent grades,  so  numerous  it  would  be  difficult  to 
count  them ;  and,  in  addition  to  these  schools,  the 
private  professors  of  music  are  thicker  than  Jews 
in  Bagdad.  I  think  there  would  be  no  difficulty 
in  finding  plenty  of  professors  of  every  kind  of 


MUSICAL    DISCORDS.  95 

•musical  instrument,  from  the  Jew's  harp  to  a  snare- 
drum.  To  meet  a  man,  woman,  or  child  in  the 
street  who  is  not  carrying  a  roll  of  sheet  music 
or  a  book  of  piano  exercises  is  exceptional. 

The  din  occasioned  by  the  constant  practising 
on  so  many  musical  instruments  and  of  so  many 
varieties,  in  every  building,  in  every  room  of  the 
building,  and  on  every  street,  became  such  a 
nuisance  a  few  years  ago  that  even  German  ears 
rebelled  against  the  continual  racket,  and  a 
municipal  law  was  passed  prohibiting  any  one 
from  playing  or  practising  on  musical  instru- 
ments in  rooms  with  open  windows  or  rooms 
opening  on  the  streets,  or  after  ten  o'clock  at 
night.  Ambitious  young  men  learning  to  play 
the  clarionet,  bugle,  cornet,  trombone,  or  other 
wind  instruments  were  banished  to  a  wild  piece  of 
country  outside  of  the  city  limits,  where  their  dis- 
cordant noises  could  not  offend  the  most  fastid- 
ious and  sensitive  ears. 

In  the  Conservatoire  there  are  over  one  hundred 
pupils  from  the  United  States,  —  young  men  and 
women  who  at  home  are  supposed  to  possess  great 
musical  talents  which  only  foreign  cultivation 
under  the  most  eminent  of  foreign  masters  will 
fully  develop.  Probably  every  mother's  son  and 
daughter  of  them  before  coming  abroad  were  con- 
sidered by  their  nearest  and  dearest  relatives  to  be 
musical  prodigies,  and  had  astonished  their  grand- 
mothers, their  uncles  and  aunts,  and  all  their  coun- 


g6  MUSICAL    PRODIGIES    FROM    AMERICA. 

try  cousins  by  their  wonderful  playing  on  the 
piano  of  Moody  and  Sankey  hymns,  negro  melo- 
dies, the  "  Battle  of  Prague,"  and  possibly  short 
selections  from  some  of  the  operas.  Small  for- 
tunes, possibly,  have  been  paid  in  acquiring  the 
musical  educations  that  many  of  them  already 
possess,  and,  arriving  in  Stuttgart,  they  have  an 
idea  that  a  few  months,  or  a  year  at  most,  in  the 
Conservatoire  will  make  them  rivals  of  Liszt  and 
Rubinstein.  Mistaken  creatures ;  like  young 
bears  their  troubles  are  all  before  them  !  They  lit- 
tle realize  the  long,  tedious  ordeal  they  are  obliged 
to  pass  through,  and  the  number  of  years  it  takes 
in  acquiring  a  Stuttgart  musical  education. 

To  be  admitted  as  pupils  they  have  to  pass  an 
examination  similar  to  that  of  freshmen  before  en- 
tering a  university ;  not  that  any  one  is  ever  re- 
jected, but  that  the  gray-headed  professors,  wearing 
gold-bowed  spectacles,  who  know  nothing  but 
music,  who  have  breakfasted,  lunched,  and  dined 
on  music  from  the  time  they  tumbled  out  of  their 
cradles,  may  take  their  musical  measure.  They 
wish  to  find  out  how  much  or  how  little  the  musi- 
cal prodigy  is  advanced  in  his  education,  but  it 
makes  no  difference  which  way  the  scales  tip,  all 
are  treated  alike  and  all  start  from  the  same  stand- 
point in  the  career  before  them. 

The  new  pupils  are  ushered  into  a  hall  of  mod- 
erate size  where  there  are  several  pianos  of  differ- 
ent patterns  and  make.  Here  they  meet  for  the 


THE    STUTTGART    METHOD.  97 

first  time  the  gray-headed  professors,  who  say  to 
them  in  a  fatherly  way,  "  Now,  children,  let  us  hear 
you  play."     Their  first  impulse  is  to  exhibit  their 
skill  by  prancing  off  on  to  some  of  their  old  favor- 
ite pieces,  negro  melodies,  perhaps  the  "  Battle  of 
Prague,"  or  selections  from  some  opera ;   but  this 
is  at  once  stopped.     What  the  professors  wish  to 
see  and  hear  is  the  finger  exercise  and  practising 
of  the  scales.     These  are  the  standards  the  pupils 
are  to  be   judged  by.     No  matter  how  long  they 
may  have  studied  or  practised  music  in  America 
before  coming   abroad,  or  how  well   they  played, 
they  are  placed  back  at  the  first   rudiments  like 
children  in  their  A  B  C's,  and  obliged  to  go  the 
ground  all  over  again  with  ten  times  the  drilling 
they  ever  received  before.     All   the  former  meth- 
ods under  which  they  have  been  instructed  have 
to  be  abandoned,  and  the  "  Stuttgart  method,"  as 
it  is  called,  which  differs  from  the  Leipsic,  Berlin, 
Dresden,  and  all  other  methods,  has  to  be  adopted. 
With  many  this  changing  to  the  Stuttgart  method 
is  as  difHcult  and  almost  as  painful  as  the  break- 
ing up  of  a  broken  limb  which  has  been  badly  set 
by  an  unskilful  surgeon.      This  ignoring  of   the 
musical   talent  and  musical  proficiency  of  these 
musical  prodigies  takes  out  the  starch,  or  rather 
conceit,  which  has  made  them  believe  heretofore 
that  they  had  but  little  more  to  learn. 

It  requires  five  and  six  years  to  go  through  a 
thorough  musical  course  of  study  at  the  Conserva- 
7 


98  SLOW    PROGRESS    TO    SUCCESS. 

toire  so  as  to  be  able  to  graduate  at  last  with  full 
honors.  Many  get  discouraged  and  leave  at  the 
end  of  the  first,  second,  or  third  year.  The  first 
year  the  pupil  is  not  allowed  to  practise  anything 
but  finger  exercises,  and  it  takes  long  practice  to 
be  able  to  hold  the  wrist  and  fingers  in  the  right 
position  —  according  to  the  Stuttgart  method. 
To  do  this  properly  the  pupil  is  at  first  obliged  to 
touch  the  piano  keys  over  a  bar  raised  two  or 
three  inches  above  the  key-board.  The  second 
year  the  pupil  practises  the  scales,  or  the  run- 
ning of  the  fingers  up  and  down  the  key-board. 
If  he  is  very  proficient  and  has  made  rapid  pro- 
gress in  this  apparently  simple  exercise,  in  a  few 
months  he  is  moved  a  step  higher.  The  third 
year  he  is  drilled  on  simple  melodies;  no,  not 
melodies,  for  these  are  considered  common  and 
vulgar  to  the  German  ear,  but  on  "  harmonies," 
which  are  sometimes  discovered  in  artistic  music. 
And  so  he  creeps  gradually  and  surely  upward 
until  the  fifth  or  sixth  year,  when  he  is  supposed 
to  be  master  of  the  situation  and  able  to  read  as 
well  as  play  the  most  difficult  music  that  is  writ- 
ten, at  sight  and  without  hesitation. 

The  Germans  never  learn  or  teach  in  a  hurry. 
Whatever  trade  or  profession  they  adopt  they 
become  masters  of,  though  they  are  years  about  it, 
and  they  never  forget  it.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
find  a  German  who  is  not  a  musician  of  some 
kind  and  the  master  of  some  musical  instrument, 


THE    LIEDERHALLE.  99 

and  not  unfrequently  of  several.  His  love  of 
music  knows  no  bounds,  for  it  is  part  of  Ms 
nature.  I  have  no  doubt  that  an  impromptu 
orchestra  could  be  made  up  at  a  few  moments' 
notice  in  the  streets  of  any  German  city,  among 
the  people  that  one  would  meet  in  a  three  min- 
utes' walk. 

Concert  halls  abound  in  Stuttgart.  They  are 
to  be  found  in  convenient  localities  in  all  parts 
of  the  city.  Seven  nights  of  the  week,  and 
especially  on  Sunday  evenings,  most  of  these  halls 
are  crowded  with  large  audiences  listening  to 
vocal  or  instrumental  concerts.  The  Liederhalle 
is  one  of  the  largest  concert  halls  in  Germany, 
having  a  seating  capacity  for  four  thousand  per- 
sons, and  this  with  but  one  gallery.  It  is  hand- 
somely built,  of  grand  proportions,  finely  frescoed, 
and  does  credit  to  the  city.  Three  or  four  nights 
of  the  week,  and  always  on  Sunday  afternoons 
and  Sunday  nights,  concerts  are  given  in  this 
monster  hall  by  some  of  the  singing  clubs  or 
societies,  of  which  there  are  many  in  the  city,  and 
also  by  some  one  of  the  fine  military  bands  whose 
regiments  are  quartered  here.  I  attended  one  of 
these  concerts  recently,  more  especially  to  heat 
Carl's  famous  band,  which  was  advertised  to 
furnish  music  on  that  particular  occasion.  On 
paying  an  entrance  fee  of  fifty  pfennigs  (twelve 
cents)  I  was  admitted  inside  of  the  hall.  The 
spectacle  before  me  was  one  that  can  only  be 


100  BEER,    MUSIC,    AND    LUNCHES    COMBINED. 

seen  in  Germany.  The  vast  floor  of  the  hall,  and 
also  the  space  under  the  galleries,  were  thickly  set 
with  small  dining  or  saloon  tables,  around  each  of 
which  were  crowded  as  many  men  and  women, 
mostly  of  the  better  class,  as  could  be  seated,  all 
drinking  beer,  and  many  of  them  eating  plain 
but  substantial  dinners  and  lunches.  A  small 
army  of  waiters  were  rushing  about  in  different 
directions,  busily  replenishing  the  quickly  emptied 
beer-mugs  and  attending  to  the  wants  of  the  hun- 
gry. It  was  a  Babel  of  voices,  mingled  with  the 
clatter  of  knives  and  forks,  beer-mugs  and  dishes. 
The  Germans  are  fond  of  sandwiching  their  music 
with  beer  and  hot  or  cold  lunches. 

In  a  few  minutes  Carl's  band  of  sixty  pieces 
filed  in  and  took  its  position  on  the  stage.  In  a 
moment  more  there  was  a  clash  of  drums,  post- 
horns,  and  trumpets.  It  was  the  "  Wedding 
March  "  from  Warner's  "  Lohengrin."  The  hall 

o  o 

at  once  was  still  as  death,  not  a  whisper  was  heard. 
Beer-mugs  and  dishes  were  abandoned,  and  every 
one  present  turned  toward  the  stage  and  listened 
with  the  most  intense  earnestness  until  the  march 
and  one  or  two  other  short  selections  from  the 
same  opera  were  concluded.  Then  the  Germans 
resumed  their  beer-mugs  and  lunches,  and  the 
Babel  of  voices  was  more  confounding  than  ever 
until  the  commencing  of  the  next  piece  on  the 
programme,  which  hushed  the  audience  and  pro- 
duced silence  once  more. 


GERMAN    CUSTOMS.  ICI 

And  so  it  was  through  the  whole  concert ;  there 
was  no  noise,  not  the  rattle  of  a  dish  or  a  glass 
while  the  band  was  playing ;  even  the  waiters  stood 
silently  listening,  as  if  entranced  by  the  magnifi- 
cent music  that  was  filling  the  vast  hall. 

This  is  a  sample  of  the  way  the  great  mass  of 
Germans  enjoy  themselves  in  this  country.  Con- 
cert halls,  conducted  in  a  similar  manner,  though 
not  perhaps  on  so  large  a  scale,  are  to  be  found, 
more  or  less  of  them,  in  every  city  and  town  of  im- 
portance throughout  Germany.  Restaurants  with 
very  reasonable  bills  of  fare  are  usually  connected 
with  them  as  one  of  the  requirements  of  the  peo- 
ple. Many  German  families  seldom  dine  at  home. 
Shutting  up  their  houses  in  the  afternoon  or  at 
night,  they  repair  to  the  beer  or  concert  garden 
in  the  summer  and  to  the  concert  hall  in  the 
winter,  and  drink  their  beer  and  eat  their  savory- 
smelling  dinners  with  a  keen  relish  during  the 
intervals  when  not  listening  to  the  delightful 
music  of  some  orchestral  or  military  band. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

FREE  Music  AND  CHEAP  Music  IN  GERMANY.  —  CARL'S  BAND 
AND  ITS  DAILY  CONCERTS.  —  No  MUSICAL  TRAMPS.  — 
AMERICAN  MELODIES  DOMESTICATED  TN  THE  COUNTRY.  — 
PLAYING  "  DIXIE,"  "YANKEE  DOODLE,"'  "WHEN  JOHXIE 
COMES  MARCHING  HOME,"  "MARCHING  THROUGH  GEORGIA," 
ETC..  BEFORE  THE  EMPEROR  AT  A  REVIEW.  —  MUSIC  FROM 
THE  CHURCH  TOWERS. 


ERMANY  is  a  good  country  to  live  in  if  you 
are  fond  of  music,  for  you  can  have  music 
with  your  coffee  in  the  morning,  with  your  lunch 
at  noon,  and  with  your  dinner  at  night  ;  you  can 
have  it  during  the  intermediate  hours  and  while 
you  are  in  bed,  if  you  wish  ;  for  music  is  plenty 
and  that  of  the  first  class,  and  it  is  cheap,  for  it 
takes  but  a  very  small  sum  to  secure  the  services 
of  a  good-sized  band  or  orchestra  which  will  play 
for  you  by  the  hour,  or  by  the  week,  or  by  the 
year  the  finest  and  most  difficult  selections  and 
compositions  of  all  the  great  masters. 

As  a  rule  these  bands  and  orchestras  all  play 
splendidly  ;  seldom  do  they  make  discords  or 
play  out  of  time  or  out  of  tune.  They  are  to  be 
found  in  every  part  of  the  country,  but  they  seem 
to  multiply  most  during  the  summer  months,  when 
the  beer-gardens  are  in  full  operation  and  the  pic- 
nic and  mountain  excursions,  shooting  matches, 


MUSICAL    TRAMPS    NOT    ALLOWED.  IO3 

etc.,  are  the  order  of  the  day.  You  hear  no  such 
fine  music,  such  skilful  music,  such  classical  and 
artistic  music,  either  in  Italy  or  France,  or  any- 
where else  in  Europe  outside  of  Germany.  The 
Italians  may  excel  in  vocal  music,  but  in  instru- 
mental they  are  not  to  be  compared  with  the  Ger- 
mans. They  lack  not  only  the  thorough  musical 
education,  but  they  lack  the  fine  musical  taste 
and  the  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance  with 
which  every  German  pursues  and  acquires  the 
mastery  of  the  profession.  They  are  all  musical 
critics,  man,  woman,  and  child;  and  nothing  sets 
a  German  into  convulsions  so  quickly  as  to  hear  a 
piece  of  music  played  in  a  bungling  or  careless 
manner.  I  recently  asked  a  German  musician  why 
it  was  that  during  my  residence  in  this  country 
I  had  never  heard  or  seen  any  of  the  familiar 
wandering  minstrels,  with  hand-organs,  bagpipes, 
hurdy-gurdy,  etc.,  that  are  so  often  encountered  in 
all  the  other  countries  of  Europe.  He  answered 
me  facetiously  by  saying  that  "  many  years  ago 
several  of  those  vagabonds  who  had  ventured  into 
Germany  were  secretly  murdered  by  musical  pro- 
fessors for  attempting  to  play  selections  from  some 
of  the  best  German  composers  on  instruments  out 
of  tune  and  out  of  time.  None  of  them  had 
dared  to  cross  the  German  frontier  since." 

Stuttgart,  as  I  have  mentioned,  is  one  of  the 
great  musical  cities  of  Germany.  It  is  full  of  sing- 
ing societies,  singing  clubs,  orchestras,  military  and 


IO4  CARL  S    BAND. 

civic  bands,  and  there  are  many  itinerant  bands,  as 
there  are  in  all  of  the  German  cities  and  towns,  of 
eight  or  ten  pieces,  more  or  less,  who  earn  preca- 
rious livings  by  giving  free  concerts  in  the  streets, 
in  front  of  hotels,  restaurants,  and  in  beer-gardens. 
These  strolling  bands,  although  depending  upon 
penny  contributions  to  buy  their  bread,  are  most 
of  them  composed  of  skilled  musicians,  who  play 
their  parts  in  a  manner  that  would  warrant  them 
star  engagements  in  countries  where  music  is  not 
cultivated  to  the  perfection  it  is  here.  They  are 
obliged  to  play  well  if  they  play  at  all,  for  if  they 
do  not  the  Germans  would  drive  them  out  of  the 
streets  and  their  occupation  would  be  gone. 

Carl's  band  is  the  famous  band  here.  It  is  to 
Stuttgart  what  Theodore  Thomas's  orchestra  is 
to  New  York.  Nearly  all  the  bands  in  Germany 
are  famous, — that  is,  with  foreigners,  —  for  they 
play  with  such  wonderful  skill  and  execution ;  but 
some  of  them  have  greater  reputations  and  are 
greater  favorites  than  others.  Carl's  band,  for 
instance,  which  is  attached  to  one  of  the  king's 
regiments,  has  sixty  members,  and  each  member 
is  said  to  be  a  star  player  on  his  particular  instru- 
ment; and  if  the  cornet,  the  trumpet,  the  trom- 
bone, or  even  the  man  who  clangs  the  cymbals 
or  beats  the  bass  drum  is  called  upon  by  an 
audience  for  a  solo,  he  can  respond  in  a  manner 
and  with  skill  that  will  "  brino:  down  the  house  " 

O 

with  applause.     Carl  himself  is  a  great  musician, 


NOONDAY    CONCERTS. 


and  has  become  celebrated  as  a  composer.  He  is 
such  a  musical  enthusiast  that  it  is  said  he  does 
nothing  but  drill  his  band  from  early  morn  until 
late  at  night,  and  the  members  have  become  so  pro- 
ficient by  long  and  thorough  training  and  practice 
that  they  are  the  masters  of  not  only  one  instru- 
ment, but  of  several,  and  many  of  them  are  equally 
"  at  home  "  on  either  the  violin,  clarionet,  post- 
horn,  harp,  trombone,  cithern,  mandolin,  piano,  or 
church  organ. 

One  of  the  great  pleasures  derived  from  living 
in  Stuttgart  is  the  free  concert  which  is  given 
every  day  by  this  band  in  the  kiosk,  in  front  of 
the  king's  palace.  At  precisely  ten  minutes  before 
twelve  at  midday  a  drum  and  fife  corps  of  twenty 
members,  Carl's  band  of  sixty,  and  an  infantry  com- 
pany of  about  one  hundred  men,  file  out  of  the 
grounds  of  one  of  the  military  barracks  in  the  up- 
per part  of  the  city  and  proceed  toward  the  king's 
palace.  It  has  the  appearance  of  a  grand  military 
review  on  a  small  scale.  Not  only  the  infantry 
company,  but  both  bands,  are  in  full  German  mili- 
tary costumes,  with  side  arms  and  brass  helmet 
hats,  as  if  for  a  dress  parade  before  the  king. 
They  have  to  march  the  whole  length  of  Konig. 
strasse,  which  is  the  Broadway  of  Stuttgart.  It  is 
a  fine,  wide  street,  about  half  a  mile  long  and  lined 
on  both  sides  with  elegant  shops  and  private  pal- 
aces. A  little  before  twelve  it  would  seem  as  if 
half  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  gathering  on 


106  THE    PEOPLE    EXCITED. 

this  street  in  anticipation  of  the  music  from  the 
band  and  to  witness  the  military  display. 

As  the  clock  strikes  twelve  (the  German  mili- 
tary are  precise  on  time)  the  band  escorting  the 
infantry  emerge  from  a  side  street  into  the 
Konigstrasse.  They  strike  up  some  martial 
music,  a  quickstep  or  a  march,  which  seems  to 
start  the  city  to  life.  The  crowd  begins  to  grow 
more  dense  every  moment ;  people  pour  out  from 
the  side  streets  and  from  all  directions ;  store- 
keepers and  clerks  forsake  their  counters  and  rush 
out  on  to  the  sidewalks.  Schools  close  at  twelve, 
and  scholars  by  the  hundreds,  with  their  knapsack 
of  books  strapped  to  their  backs,  rush  pell  mell  to 
get  as  near  the  music  as  possible.  The  throngs 
of  people  who  were  walking  up  the  street  to  meet 
the  band  turn  about  and  march  back  with  it. 
The  wide  sidewalks  and  the  street  in  both  direc- 
tions are  black  with  people.  All  are  marching  and 
keeping  step  to  the  music.  From  a  distance  it 
looks  like  an  immense  moving  mob,  that  gathers 
new  strength  as  it  rolls  along.  The  show  of  mili- 
tary is  of  no  account ;  Carl's  band,  which  is  play- 
ing so  splendidly,  occasionally  relieved  by  the  fife 
and  drum  corps,  absorbs  the  attention  of  the  mul- 
titude. 

In  the  centre  of  the  city  is  'the  Schloss  Platz,  an 
elegant  public  square,  covering  several  acres,  which 
is  like  a  beautiful  garden  with  fine  shade  trees  and 
divided  into  irregular  patches  of  greensward  that 


TREE  CONCERTS  IN  THE  SCHLOSS  PLATZ. 

are  filled  in  and  bordered  with  choice  flowers  and 
rare  shrubbery.  Two  enormous  fountains,  like 
those  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  at  Paris,  are  play- 
ing at  all  hours  of  the  day.  In  the  centre  of  this 
square,  and  between  these  fountains,  rises  up  the 
high  monument  or  round  column  of  gray  granite 
to  the  memory  of  King  William,  the  father  of  the 
present  king  of  Wurtemberg.  Facing  the  square 
on  one  side  is  the  beautiful  palace  of  the  king, 
which  resembles  the  Tuileries,  at  the  French 
capital,  in  architecture  and  dimensions.  The 
Konigstrasse,  down  which  the  throng  of  people 
escorting  the  music  are  pouring,  opens  into  this 
square.  By  the  time  the  band  reaches  and  takes 
possession  of  the  kiosk  there  must  be  at  times 
several  thousand  people  who  have  gathered  to 
hear  the  music.  The  band  plays  about  half  an 
hour.  Every  day  the  programme  is  changed  and 
the  people  are  treated  to  the  finest  music  in  the 
world,  comprising  the  choicest  selections  from  all 
the  great  musical  composers  of  the  past  and  pres- 
ent, which  are  played  with  a  skill  and  a  sweetness 
that  it  would  be  difficult  to  equal  or  excel. 

These  concerts  are  not  for  one  day  or  for  one 
week,  but  they  take  place  at  precisely  the  same 
hour  of  the  day  throughout  the  year.  The  Ger- 
mans seem  never  to  get  tired  of  them,  but  antici- 
pate their  recurrence  as  regularly  as  they  do  their 
dinners,  and  appear  to  enjoy  them  much  more. 

Two  years  ago  Hon.  }.  S.  Potter,  who  was  then 


IOS    AMERICAN  MELODIES  BEFORE  THE  EMPEROR. 

the  American  consul  in  Stuttgart,  presented  Carl 
with  a  selection  of  American  music,  including  the 
national  airs  of  "  Hail  Columbia  "  and  the  "  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  also  several  of  the  negro  mel- 
odies and  pieces  which  became  so  famous  during 
the  Rebellion.  These  Carl  arranged  for  his  band 
to  play,  and  had  them  published  for  military  and 
.concert  music.  They  have  since  become  very  pop- 
ular, and  are  to  be  found  in  most  of  the  music  stores 
throughout  Germany. 

At  the  grand  military  manoeuvres  and  review  of 
a  portion  of  the  German  army  before  the  Empe- 
ror, the  Crown  Prince,  the  king  of  Wurtemberg, 
etc.,  which  took  place  about  a  year  ago  near  Stutt- 
gart, the  troops  marched  past  the  Emperor  and  his 
suite  to  the  music  of  these  American  airs,  played 
by  Carl's  band :  "  Marching  through  Georgia," 
"  Tramp,  tramp,  my  Boys,"  "  Dixie,"  "  Rally  round 
the  Flag,  Boys,"  "  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,"  "  Who  's  that 
Knocking,"  "  Swanee  River,"  "  When  Johnnie 
comes  marching  Home,"  and  other  familiar  melo- 
dies arranged  as  a  pot-pourri.  They  were  played 
as  they  were  never  played  before,  except  by  this 
famous  band.  Every  one  who  heard  them  was  de- 
lighted ;  it  was  something  new,  inspiring,  and  en- 
livening. Officers  and  men  were  almost  wild  as 
with  a  new  inspiration.  Even  the  Emperor  and  his 
suite  could  with  difficulty  keep  quiet  in  their  sad- 
dles. Finally  the  Emperor  sent  an  officer  to  in- 
quire of  Carl  what  music  he  was  playing.  Return- 


MUSIC    FROM    THE    CHURCH    TOWERS.  ICX) 

ing  from  his  errand,  the  officer  doffed  his  brass 
helmet  hat,  and,  bowing  low,  said,  "  He  says  it  is 
American  music,  your  Majesty."  "  Return  and  tell 
him  to  repeat  it,"  said  the  Emperor. 

There  is  a  beautiful  custom  among  the  Ger- 
mans of  having  chorals  played  from  the  church 
towers  at  regular  hours  of  the  day.  It  is  said 
They  first  derived  the  idea  from  the  Arabs,  who  at 
certain  hours  of  the  day  and  night  are  called  to 
prayers  by  the  long  wailing  cry  of  the  muezzins 
from  the  minarets  of  the  mosques.  When  I  first 
heard  this  music  in  Stuttgart,  coming,  as  it 
appeared  to  me,  from  the  heavens,  I  was  puzzled 
to  know  its  object  and  the  source  from  whence 
it  came.  I  gazed  above  and  around  me,  but  I 
failed  to  detect  its  origin.  The  beautiful  melody, 
softened  by  distance,  was  floating  in  the  air  like 
music  from  yEolian  harps.  It  was  like  the  invisi- 
ble heavenly  choir  that  enraptured  St.  Cecilia. 

A  few  days  afterward,  happening  to  be  in  the 
same  neighborhood  and  at  the  same  hour  of  the 
day,  I  was  more  fortunate  in  my  discoveries.  I 
again  heard  the  music  from  above,  its  pealing 
notes  coming  to  me  from  some  far  distance  like 
the  strains  of  a  church  organ.  Near  me  was  the 
Stiffs  kirche,  an  old  church  built  in  1308,  which 
has  attached  to  it  an  immense  octagon  tower  ris- 
ing up  to  a  height  of  nearly  two  hundred  feet. 
Encircling  this  tower  near  the  top  is  a  balcony,  on 
which  I  at  last  espied  the  authors  of  the  strange 


IIO  A    RELIGIOUS    OBSERVANCE. 

music.  Several  men  with  brass  instruments  were 
perched  on  that  giddy  height  playing  sacred  music. 
When  they  had  finished  one  piece  they  moved  to 
another  position  on  the  balcony  and  played  a  dif- 
ferent tune.  Four  selections  in  all  were  played, 
one  toward  each  point  of  the  compass.  On  mak- 
ing inquiries  afterward,  I  found  that  this  playing 
from  the  church  tower  had  been  in  practice  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years.  A  German  lady 
"  once  upon  a  time,"  belonging  to  one  of  the 
noble  families,  bequeathed  a  sum  of  money,  the 
income  of  which  was  ever  after  to  be  devoted  to 
paying  the  expenses  of  this  religious  observance. 
The  clause  in  her  will  stated  that  chorals  or  selec- 
tions of  sacred  music  were  to  be  played  from  this 
church  tower  twice  a  day,  punctually  every  morn- 
ing at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  also  from  half 
past  eleven  to  twelve  at  noon.  The  musicians  for 
their  services  are  paid  two  marks  (fifty  cents)  a 
day  each,  —  a  mark  for  the  morning  and  a  mark 
for  the  noon  service,  —  which,  for  walking  up  and 
down  that  long  flight  of  steps,  in  addition  to  play, 
ing  several  pieces  of  church  music,  is  a  small 
enough  remuneration.  Chorals  are  also  played 
from  another  of  the  church  towers  in  Stuttgart  by 
a  brass  band,  and  also  from  a  church  tower  in 
Ludwigsburg,  Rossenstein,  Friedrichshafen,  near 
Stuttgart,  and  in  others  of  the  very  old  German 
cities  and  towns. 


CHAPTER   X. 

Music,  BEER,  AND  SAUER- KRAUT.  —  THE  THREE  LOVES  OP 
GERMANY.  —  THE  OMNIPRESENT  CAHBAGE.  —  SEARCHING 
FOR  A  BOARDING-HOUSE.  —  SOME  REALISTIC  GERMAN 
ART.  —  THE  PARADISE  OF  DIFFERENT  RELIGIOUS  SECTS, 
NATIONALITIES,  ETC. 

r  I  ^HERE  are  three  things  the  Germans  are 
JL  intensely  fond  of,  —  music,  beer,  and  sauer- 
kraut ;  there  is  no  denying  this  fact.  I  hesitate 
which  to  put  first  on  the  list  as  their  special  favor- 
ite. I  think  if  a  German  was  asked  which  his 
heart  or  inmost  soul  craved  most  he  would  be  a 
long  time  in  making  up  his  mind,  and  finally  be 
obliged  to  answer,  " Alle  drei"  —  all  three.  In 
journeying  through  the  country  the  traveller  is 
constantly  butting  against  positive  proof  wher- 
ever he  goes  that  these  triplet  favorites  have  a 
tenacious  hold  on  the  national  heart,  and  that  the 
love  of  each  is  part  of  the  German  nature.  He 
is  convinced  of  the  fact  through  the  organs  of 
hearing,  seeing,  and  smelling.  Go  where  he  will, 
he  hears  music,  —  splendid  music,  too ;  and  in 
every  city,  village,  town,  and  hamlet,  wherever  his 
footsteps  or  the  railways  carry  him,  he  has  abun- 
dant evidence  that  one  of  the  principal  occupa- 
tions of  the  people,  man,  woman,  and  child,  is 
beer-drinking. 


112  MUSIC,    BEER,    AND    SAUER-KRAUT. 

As  for  sauer-kraut,  the  abominable  smell  of  it 
while  undergoing  the  cooking  process  greets  his 
nose  in  the  majority  of  German  houses,  hotels,  and 
pensions.  I  won't  say  every  hotel,  for  latterly 
hotel  proprietors,  especially  those  of  the  better 
class,  in  order  to  coax  travellers  into  the  country 
and  to  induce  them  to  tarry  over  night  and  longer, 
have  been  obliged  to  banish  this  favorite  national 
dish  from  their  kitchens;  but  even  then  the  well- 
known  aroma  is  often  detected,  stealing  through 
the  halls  and  corridors  from  the  regions  below, 
where  it  is  being  surreptitiously  cooked  by  the 
servants  for  the  cravings  of  their  appetites. 

One  of  the  chief  delights  of  German  travel  is 
the  enchanting  music  for  which  Germany  is  noted, 
and  which  one  encounters  in  every  part  of  the 
country ;  but  the  disagreeable  part  of  travel  is  the 
unearthly,  indescribable  odors  arising  from  the 
constant  cooking  in  various  ways  of  the  national 
vegetable,  the  cabbage.  The  majority  of  German 
families  cook  and  eat  it  daily,  and  their  houses 
consequently  are  thoroughly  impregnated  with  its 
odors.  Those  who  have  grown  up  from  the  cra- 
dle in  this  unnatural  atmosphere  fail  to  detect  the 
existence  of  the  unpleasant  element  in  it ;  it  has 
always  been  part  of  the  air  they  breathe  ;  but  the 
foreigner,  the  moment  he  steps  inside  of  a  Ger- 
man domicile,  is  at  once  assailed  with  the  odor, 
which  he  is  obliged  to  endure  or  else  beat  a  hasty 
retreat. 


THE    OMNIPRESENT    CABBAGE.  113 

He  not  only  finds  it  in  the  houses,  but  in 
restaurants,  music  halls,  and  theatres,  and  on  the 
sidewalks,  where  it  comes  stealing  through  open 
windows  and  crevices  from  basement  kitchens 
and  dining-rooms. 

The  odor  from  the  cooking  of  cabbage  in  its 
natural  state  is  endurable  and  Christian  compared 
to  the  cooking  of  sauer-kraut.  About  the  latter 
there  is  a  mixture  of  barbarian,  Oriental,  and 
menagerie  smells  that  makes  one  imagine  that  he 
is  in  one  of  the  resurrected  graveyards  or  tombs  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  I  do  not  wish  to  over- 
draw the  picture  or  magnify  the  quality  of  this 
national  odor;  I  am  stating  the  impression  it  makes 
on  strangers  generally,  and  especially  on  Ameri- 
cans, when  they  first  travel  through  the  country, 
and  stumble  on  it  at  every  street-corner  and  in 
every  house  they  enter.  Fortunately  for  those 
who  remain  in  Germany  any  length  of  time,  this 
peculiarity  of  the  atmosphere  gradually  dies  away, 
and  in  a  few  months  or  years  they  become  so 
thoroughly  Germanized  that  they  fail  to  detect 
anything  more  unpleasant  from  the  perfume  of  a 
dish  of  sauer-kraut  than  they  would  from  a  bou- 
quet of  the  choicest  flowers. 

Some  time  since  a  freshly  arrived  American,  who 
was  to  make  a  lengthy  stay  in  the  country  to  ob- 
tain a  musical  education,  wished  me  to  go  out  with 
him  from  the  hotel  where  he  was  stopping  to  look 
up  a  boarding-place.  Taking  the  numbers  of  sev- 


114  IDEALISTIC    PICTURES. 

eral  boarding-houses  from  the  directory,  we  sallied 
forth  in  search  of  satisfactory  quarters.  At  the 
first  house  we  had  proceeded  part  way  up  the  first 
flight  of  stairs  when  my  companion  stopped,  and 
I  heard  him  exclaim,  '•  My  God !  what  is  it  ?  "  I 
saw  he  had  a  tight  grip  on  his  nose. 

"  Oh,  come  on,"  I  said ;  "  you  will  get  used  to  it" 
"  Used  to  it !     Is  it  here  all  the  time  ? " 
"  Of  course ;  it  is  the  national  smell." 
He  made  a  bolt  down-stairs,  out  of  the  street 
door  on  to  the  sidewalk. 

"  That  was  too  much  for  me  ;   I  don't   think  I 

could  get  used  to  it ;  let  us  look  farther,"  he  said. 

We    did   look  farther,    and    penetrated  several 

other  boarding-places,  but  the  result  was  the  same 

wherever  we  went. 

A  week  after,  the  fastidious  young  man  departed 
for  another  country. 

Many  years  ago  a  German  artist  became  cele- 
brated for  having  painted  a  series  of  idealistic 
pictures  representing  the  heaven  or  paradise  of 
different  nationalities  and  religious  sects,  and  also 
the  paradise  of  painters,  poets,  musicians,  philoso- 
phers, etc.  In  these  pictures  he  represented  that 
each  of  the  nationalities,  sects,  or  bodies  of  men 
were  enjoying  in  paradise  all  of  the  peculiar  creat- 
ure comforts  and  pleasures  which  made  their  lives 
happy  here  below. 

For  instance,  he  had  representatives  ol  the  Ori- 
ental nations  represented  as  Mohammedans  peace- 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN'S  PARADISE.  115 

fully  smoking  their  coils  of  pipe,  in  what  appeared 
to  be  a  harem  in  the  celestial  regions.  In  the 
midst  of  a  group  of  turban-headed  Orientals  was 
Mohammed  sitting  cross-legged  on  a  tiger-skin, 
quietly  taking  his  siesta,  a  look  of  supreme  hap- 
piness and  contentment  beaming  from  his  dusky 
countenance,  his  eyes  partly  closed,  and  a  cloud  of 
tobacco  smoke  curling  upward  over  his  head  from 
a  Turkish  pipe  which  has  fallen  from  his  lips. 
To  make  the  picture  more  perfect,  an  indefinite 
number  of  beautiful  houris  were  hovering  and 
gliding  about  on  wings  and  tiptoe,  administering 
to  the  wants  of  their  lords  and  masters,  by  filling 
their  pipes,  holding  goblets  of  wine  to  their  lips, 
entwining  their  arms  around  their  necks,  and 
dancing  to  the  music  of  the  lute  and  cymbals. 
Within  easy  reach  of  Mohammed  and  his  olive- 
complexioned  companions  are  pots  of  honey,,  tropi- 
cal fruits,  jars  of  spiced  drinks,  opium,  and  tobacco, 
and  all  varieties  of  pipes  and  smoking  utensils 
used  by  the  Orientals. 

The  picture  representing  the  pagan's  paradise 
was  different  in  its  details,  but  a  striking  simi- 
larity was  observable  in  the  looks  and  dress  of  the 
translated  saints,  and  also  in  the  various  sources 
and  emblems  of  happiness  with  which  they  be- 
guiled the  hours  in  the  future  world. 

I  have  not  time  to  describe  the  picture  further ; 
what  I  am  coming  to  is  the  picture  representing 
the  Christian's  paradise.  This  was  certainly  a  re- 


n6  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  PARADISE. 

markable  work  of  art,  not  particularly  so  because 
all  the  saints  represented  were  from  their  cast  of 
features  of  the  Teutonic  race,  but  what  struck  the 
eye  as  most  peculiar  was  that  the  Germans  were 
drinking  beer  in  paradise  with  apparently  as  much 
relish  and  satisfaction  as  they  did  while  on  earth. 

The  scene  reminded  one  a  little  of  Leonardo  da 
Vinci's  picture  of  "  The  Last  Supper,"  only  there 
was  not  that  expression  of  trouble  and  anxiety  on 
the  faces  of  the  German  saints  as  Da  Vinci  pic- 
tured on  the  faces  of  the  apostles.  And,  instead 
of  being  seated  at  one  table,  they  are  seated  at  a 
great  many  little  ethereal  tables,  without  visible 
legs,  which  appear  to  be  floating  in  the  air,  not- 
withstanding they  appear  to  be  loaded  with  beer- 
mugs  of  various  shapes  and  designs. 

Seated  alone  at  a  larger  table  is  a  picture  in- 
tended to  represent  Christ,  but,  from  the  foaming 
tankard  of  beer  in  front  of  him,  and  the  decidedly 
German  features,  it  is  often  mistaken  to  be  that  of 
King  Gambrinus.  Numbers  of  little  angels  and 
angels  of  a  larger  growth  of  the  gentler  sex,  whose 
only  apparel  visible  is  their  wings,  are  busy  as 
humming-birds,  flying  hither  and  thither  in  re- 
plenishing the  beer-mugs  of  the  saints  and  en- 
deavoring every  way  possible  to  make  them  happy 
and  contented.  In  the  clouds  above  is  repre- 
sented a  heavenly  choir,  —  an  idea  which  must 
have  been  suggested  by  Raphael's  beautiful  picture 
of  St.  Cecilia,  —  which  is  entertaining  the  German 


ANGELIC    CHOIRS.  1 1/ 

saints  below  with  selections,  probably,  from  the 
best  German  oratorios  and  operas. 

Of  those  who  form  the  choir  some  are  singing, 
and  others  are  playing  on  various  kinds  of  wind 
and  string  instruments  of  the  most  modern  make 
and  patterns.  It  seems  to  be  a  "  combination 
troupe.''  Among  its  members  can  be  detected 
the  familiar  features  of  nearly  all  the  great  musi- 
cal geniuses  of  Germany,  —  of  Mozart,  Beetho- 
ven, Handel,  Mendelssohn,  Haydn,  Meyerbeer, 
etc.  On  the  faces  of  those  below  there  is  a  look 
of  seraphic  joy  and  happiness.  Each  of  the 
pictured  saints  is  represented  listening  to  the 
heavenly  music,  which  is  supposed  to  be  floating 
through  the  air  and  rilling  all  space,  with  the  most 
intense  earnestness,  as  if  to  catch  every  note  and 
sound.  Among  those  of  the  heavenly  choir  I 
failed  to  detect  the  faces  of  any  of  the  eminent 
Italian  or  French  composers  and  masters.  Evi- 
dently the  Germans  think  that  their  own  music  in 
heaven  will  take  precedence  of  that  of  the  screech- 
ing operatic  music  of  the  Italians,  or  the  lively 
can-can  music  of  the  French. 

In  the  paradise  of  the  poets  all  of  the  great 
masters  of  poesy  are  represented,  and  arranged  in 
groups  according  to  the  prominence  they  take  in 
the  German's  estimation.  Goethe  and  Schiller 
are  the  two  most  prominent  figures,  while  Homer, 
Dante,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  others  are  made 
to  take  back  seats.  All  of  them,  however,  while 


Il8  ARTISTIC    LICENSE. 

tuning  their  lyres,  appear  to  be  making  themselves 
happy  over  their  beer-mugs,  even  to  poor,  blind 
old  Homer,  who  probably  in  his  day  never  saw  or 
tasted  of  the  bitter  liquid.  But  if  authors  so  often 
draw  upon  the  ideal  in  embellishing  their  writings 
by  taking  what  is  called  "  poetic  license,"  why 
should  not  German  painters  be  allowed  the  privi- 
lege of  a  "  painter's  license "  in  drawing  upon 
their  imaginations,  not  only  for  subjects,  but  in 
giving  their  works  certain  indisputable  character- 
istics or  national  trade-marks,  that  the  nationality 
of  the  artist  may  never  be  disputed  ? 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  GERMAN  LABORER  AND  HIS  HIRE.  —  THE  DEGRADATION 
HEAPED  UPON  WOMEN  OF  THE  LOWER  CLASS.  —  A  SER- 
VITUDE MORE  DEGRADING  THAN  SLAVERY.  —  WAGES 
PAID  MECHANICS.  —  AGRICULTURAL  LABORERS  AND  HOUSE 
SERVANTS.  —  COST  OF  LIVING. 

I  WOULD  not  like  to  be  a  German  peasant- 
woman.  I  would  much  prefer  to  be  a  Ger- 
man horse,  for  German  horses  are  well  treated  and 
well  fed.  They  are  not  over-worked  or  over-bur- 
dened with  heavy  loads ;  they  are  allowed  a  certain 
amount  of  rest  between  the  sun's  rising  and  the 
sun's  setting,  while  every  attention  is  paid  to  their 
comfort  and  health:  and  all  this,  not  because  the 
horse  has  a  money  value,  but  that  the  Germans 
are  naturally  kind  to  all  dumb  animals. 

Women,  however,  receive  none  of  these  kind 
attentions  and  considerations  at  the  hands  of  the 
male  portion  of  the  community,  but  are  treated  as 
if  they  were  of  a  species  lower  than  the  brutes, 
with  no  feelings  and  no  souls. 

What  the  camel  is  to  the  Arab,  woman  is  to  the 
German.  She  is  made  to  bear  the  heavy  loads 
and  be  the  working  slave  of  her  master ;  she  is  not 
only  the  "  hewer  of  wood  and  the  drawer  of  water," 
but  she  is  made  to  perform  every  kind  of  degrad- 


I2O  DEGRADATION    OF    THE    WOMEN. 

ing  labor.  She  prepares  the  fields  for  planting, 
she  drives  the  oxen  and  holds  the  plough,  and  not 
unfrequently  she  takes  the  place  of  the  ox  before 
the  plough.  She  sows  the  seed  and  tills  the  soil, 
she  shovels,  she  hoes,  she  reaps,  she  gathers  the 
harvest,  she  thrashes  the  grain  and  carries  it  to  the 
mill,  she  grinds  it  at  the  mill,  she  markets  the  prod- 
ucts of  her  small  strip  of  land  to  buy  bread  for 
her  children,  and  beer  for  her  lord  and  master. 
She  does  the  work  and  the  drudgery  in  the  facto- 
ries ;  she  is  the  scavenger  for  cleaning  the  streets 
and  for  gathering  offal  in  the  cities  and  highways 
for  enriching  the  land.  She  does  everything  but 
play  soldier  and  hang  around  beer-shops  and  drink 
beer  from  early  morn  until  late  at  night,  like  the 
German  men,  and  these  occupations  would  be 
assigned  her,  provided  they  required  hard  labor  or 
drudgery  of  any  kind. 

This  picture  of  the  degradation  of  German 
women  is  no  work  of  the  imagination,  but  a  living 
reality.  Whoever  has  travelled  through  Germany 
has  noticed  the  bronze-faced  women,  scantily 
dressed,  toiling  in  the  fields,  tottering  beneath  heavy 
loads  on  their  heads  and  shoulders,  climbing  lad- 
ders with  hods  of  bricks  and  stone  for  the  builders, 
sawing  and  splitting  wood  in  the  streets,  dragging 
milk-carts,  and  engaged  in  numberless  menial  occu- 
pations of  such  a  degrading  nature  that  a  Rocky 
Mountain  savage  would  disdain  to  have  his  squaw 
perform  them. 


WAGES   PAID.  121 

And  for  all  this  life-long  labor  and  toil  the  Ger- 
man woman  is  miserably  paid.  It  is  the  pittance 
that  is  doled  out  to  the  beggar.  The  few  pfen- 
nigs that  are  paid  her  for  her  day's  or  week's  hard 
servitude  are  scarcely  enough  to  supply  her  with 
clothes  to  cover  her  back,  or  buy  bread  to  keep 
her  from  starving.  And  yet  they  are  strong  and 
robust,  and  perform  what  is  called  a  "  man's 
labor.  "  While  at  work  in  the  fields,  and  it  is  only 
during  the  warm  months  of  the  year  that  they 
can,  they  are  only  paid  eight,  ten,  or  twelve  cents 
for  a  day's  labor  of  twelve  hours.  When  they 
board  themselves  they  receive  from  twenty  to 
twenty-eight  or  thirty  cents  a  day.  The  men, 
when  they  can  be  induced  to  work  in  the  fields, 
are  paid  from  twenty-eight  to  forty-five  and  fifty 
cents  per  day,  and  find  their  own  food.  With 
their  board  and  lodging  they  do  not  receive  on  an 
average  more  than  $1.30  a  week.  Is  it  a  wonder 
that  the  emigration  from  Germany  to  the  United 
States  is  so  enormous  and  increasing  so  rapidly? 

Women  domestics  are  worse  paid  than  those 
who  labor  in  the  fields.  Thousands  of  them  go 
into  families  and  toil  like  slaves  for  .their  board, 
which  is  poor  enough,  and  the  cast-off  clothing 
from  the  backs  of  their  mistresses.  Those  who 
are  paid  receive  but  a  mere  pittance  for  their  labor. 
Common  house  servants,  chambermaids,  etc.,  only 
get  eight  or  ten  marks  ($1.92,  $2.50)  per  month; 
and  cooks  who  are  considered  extra  good,  and 


122  MASTER   AND    SERVANT. 

cook  for  very  large  and  wealthy  families  and  for 
boarding-houses,  seldom  receive  more  than  twelve 
or  fifteen  marks  ($2.88,  $3.36)  per  month. 

Although  the  wages  paid  are  so  insignificant, 
yet  the  laws  governing  the  relations  between  mas- 
ter and  servant  are  very  strict  and  always  enforced. 
The  master  cannot  discharge  his  servant,  nor  can 
the  servant  leave  her  master,  without  a  month's 
warning  either  way.  All  servants  are  under  the 
espionage  and  the  protection  of  the  police,  and 
are  furnished  with  books  which  are  numbered  and 
registered,  and  in  which  the  laws  are  printed.  If 
they  change  their  place  of  service  they  must 
report  to  the  police,  and  they  are  under  the  neces- 
sity of  producing  a  certificate  of  good  charac- 
ter for  honesty,  faithfulness,  etc.,  from  their  last 
employer,  which  has  to  be  inscribed  in  their  book. 

When  a  German  lady  of  wealth  shuts  up  her 
house,  and,  taking  her  servant  with  her,  visits 
Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna,  or  spends  a  few  weeks  at 
the  sea-shore  or  any  of  the  fashionable  summer 
resorts,  the  servant  receives  no  wages  during  the 
time  she  is  away ;  the  pleasure  of  travelling  and 
the  privilege  of  seeing  the  sights  of  the  outside 
world  being  considered  a  sufficient  recompense 
for  her  services. 

In  giving  the  prices  paid  agricultural  laborers 
and  house  servants  it  may  be  well  to  mention  in 
connection  therewith  the  prices  paid  in  this  coun- 
try to  mechanics  and  some  of  the  more  important 


MECHANICS     WAGES. 

trades  and  professions.  In  comparing  statistics 
of  wages  in  different  parts  of  Germany,  I  think 
the  following  figures  can  be  depended  upon  as 
being  as  near  the  average  rates  as  it  is  possible  to 
get  them.  The  prices  are  for  a  day  of  ten  hours, 
without  board  or  lodging.  Where  the  mechanic 
extends  his  labors  to  twelve  and  fourteen  hours  a 
day —  as  is  often  done  —  the  amount  is  increased 
proportionately.  Carpenters  who  are  masters  of 
their  trade  receive  sixty  to  seventy  cents  ;  stone 
and  brick  masons  and  plasterers,  fifty  to  sixty  and 
seventy  cents;  machinists,  first-class,  eighty,  ninety 
cents,  and  one  dollar ;  cabinet-makers,  fifty  to  sixty 
cents  ;  blacksmiths,  forty  to  sixty  cents ;  job  print- 
ers, fifty  to  sixty  cents  ;  painters,  sixty  to  seventy 
cents;  upholsterers,  fifty,  seventy,  and  eighty 
cents ;  tailors,  fifty  to  sixty  cents ;  weavers  in  fac- 
tories, thirty  to  forty  cents ;  shoemakers,  fifty  to 
sixty  cents  ;  brewers,  sixty  to  seventy  cents  ;  roof- 
makers,  seventy  to  eighty  cents ;  coppersmiths, 
seventy  to  eighty  cents  ;  common  workmen  in 
house-building,  forty  to  fifty  cents;  tinners,  fifty 
to  seventy  cents.  I  will  not  extend  the  list  further. 
In  many  of  the  above  trades  women  are  employed, 
such  as  shoemaking,  upholstering,  cabinet-mak- 
ing, etc.,  who  receive  about  half  or  two  thirds  the 
wages  paid  the  men.  Good  seamstresses  who  go 
out  and  work  by  the  day  receive  twenty-four  and 
thirty-six  cents  for  a  day's  labor  of  twelve  and 
fourteen  hours. 


124  RICH    AMERICANS    ABROAD. 

To  show  how  penurious  some  of  our  wealthy 
Americans  are  in  their  expenditures  when  they 
come  abroad,  I  will  copy  an  extract  from  a  friend's 
letter,  recently  received,  who  is  temporarily  resid- 
ing in  a  German  city  :  — 

"  The  H.'s  have  just  returned  here  from  Paris.  Mrs.  H.  is  get- 
ting extravagant.  She  bought  of  Tiffany  &  Co.,  while  in  Paris,  two 
bracelets  covered  with  diamonds,  a  pair  of  very  large  solitaire  dia- 
mond ear-rings,  a  comb  for  her  hair  set  in  diamonds,  and  a  magnifi- 
cent brooch  with  seven  large  diamonds.  She  had  previously,  as 
you  know,  plenty  of  diamonds,  and  what  she  wants  of  so  many 
more  I  cannot  tell.  Probably  she  took  a  fancy  to  them,  and  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  of  buying.  They  could  not  have  cost  less 
than  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  reverse  of  the  picture  is  this  : 
she  informed  my  wife  yesterday  that  she  had  beat  down  the  price 
of  her  sewing-woman  to  twenty-four  cents  a  day.  She  had  pre- 
viously paid  her  thirty-six  cents.  Must  economize  somewhere  !  A 
day  or  two  since  I  heard  Mr.  H.  offer  a  poor  market-woman  seven- 
teen pfennigs  for  some  vegetables  for  which  she  had  asked 
twenty.  As  it  takes  four  pfennigs  to  make  in  value  an  American 
cent,  you  see  what  a  saving  he  would  have  made." 

Clergymen,  or  "  pastors  "  as  they  are  called  in 
Germany,  are  recipients  of  very  small  favors  in 
the  way  of  salaries.  Two  hundred,  three  hundred, 
and  four  hundred  dollars  is  the  amount  they 
usually  receive  for  a  year's  ministration,  and  it 
takes  a  man  of  uncommon  ability  to  command  a 
salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  and  over. 

Physicians'  fees  depend  upon  the  generosity,  also 
the  ability  and  disposition  to  pay  of  those  who  em- 
ploy them.  It  is  not  the  custom  in  Germany  for 
physicians  or  surgeons  to  make  out  bills  against 
their  patients.  The  patient  is  supposed  to  keep 


PHYSICIANS     FEES.  12$ 

an  account  of  the  number  of  visits,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  year,  usually  just  before  Christmas,  he  sends 
his  physician  a  Christmas  present  of  some  kind  as 
a  token  of  esteem  and  appreciation  of  his  services, 
and  with  this  present  he  sends  a  sum  of  money  in- 
tended to  be  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  number  of 
professional  visits.  The  usual  fee  that  is  expected 
is  two  marks  a  visit,  and  the  German  gives  this, 
and  adds  to  it  as  much  as  he  pleases,  according  to 
his  wealth  and  inclination. 

Americans  who  have  employed  physicians  in 
Germany  have  been  a  good  deal  "  taken  aback  " 
when  they  have  asked  them  for  their  bills,  and  been 
told  that  they  had  none,  that  they  never  made  out 
bills. 

"  But,"  says  the  American,  "  I  wish  to  pay  you, 
I  don't  expect  you  to  give  me  your  services.  I 
cannot  pay  you  unless  I  know  the  amount  of  your 
charges." 

But  the  doctor  shakes  his  head,  says  he  does  not 
know  himself,  that  they  can  pay  whatever  they 
feel  disposed.  I  have  seen  many  Americans  run- 
ning around  among  their  friends  inquiring  what  to 
do  and  what  to  pay  under  such  circumstances.  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  some  of  our  "  fair  country- 
men," after  being  faithfully  attended  through  long 
sicknesses,  have  taken  advantage  of  this  old-estab- 
lished custom  among  the  medical  fraternity  and 
departed  without  even  so  much  as  thanking  the 
doctor  for  his  services  and  kind  attentions. 


126  COST    OF    LIVING. 

The  enormous  fees  that  are  so  often  charged  by 
physicians  in  America,  not  only  for  special  cases, 
but  in  their  regular  practice,  and  which  can  only 
be  termed  wholesale  swindling  or  robbery  perpe- 
trated in  a  fashionable  and  genteel  manner,  would 
never  be  tolerated  or  attempted  in  Germany. 

The  remuneration  for  various  kinds  of  labor  in 
this  country  being  so  infinitesimal,  it  would  natu- 
rally be  supposed  that  the  cost  of  living  would  be 
proportionately  small.  But  such  a  supposition  is 
a  mistake,  as  the  necessities  of  life  cost  as  much 
in  Germany  as  in  the  United  States,  or  even  more. 
Meats  of  all  kinds,  especially,  are  so  expensive  that 
they  are  luxuries  seldom,  if  ever,  indulged  in  dur- 
ing the  year  by  the  working-people  or  lower  classes. 
It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  mechanics 
and  laboring  classes  in  the  United  States,  who 
have  their  bountifully  laden  tables,  with  an  abun- 
dance of  meat  two  and  three  times  a  day  through 
the  year,  live  like  kings  compared  to  not  only  the 
working  classes  in  Germany,  but  to  most  of  the 
higher  classes. 

The  same  comparison  would  hold  good  with  all 
the  European  nations ;  and  yet  it  is  a  lamentable 
fact  that  these  same  working  classes  in  Europe, 
when  they  emigrate  to  America,  where  they  are 
paid  three  and  four  times  as  much  for  their  labor  as 
they  are  here,  are  the  first  to  become  discontented 
and  dissatisfied  with  their  prosperity,  and  are  fore- 
most in  creating  mischief  by  organizing  "  strikes," 


MARKET    PRICES.  I2/ 

"  labor  unions,"  etc.,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
their  wages  to  still  higher  amounts. 

To  those  who  think  that  living  is  cheap  in  this 
country,  I  would  refer  them  to  the  figures  below 
as  representing  the  actual  cost,  as  near  as  it  is 
possible  to  get  it,  of  many  of  the  necessities  of 
life  in  this  part  of  Germany,  —  in  the  kingdoms  of 
Bavaria  and  Wurtemberg,  in  the  duchy  of  Baden, 
•etc.  In  other  parts  of  Germany  the  prices  will 
not  vary  much  from  these  figures,  but  would  be 
higher  rather  than  less,  particularly  in  Northern 
Germany,  Prussia,  Saxony,  etc. :  — 

Pork,  14  to  16  cents  per  pound  ;  mutton,  15  to  18  cents  ;  veal,  14 
to  1 8  cents  ;  beefsteaks  and  beef  for  roasting,  25  to  28  cents  ;  com- 
mon beef,  10  to  16  cents;  chickens,  50  to  75  cents  each  ;  butter, 
24  to  35  cents  j  cheese,  20  to  30  cents ;  sausage  meat,  of  which 
great  quantities  are  consumed,  18  to  27  cents  ;  sugar,  10  to  12 
cents  ;  rice,  6  cents  ;  flour,  7  cents  ;  beans,  4  and  5  cents  a  pound  ; 
milk  4 and  5  cents  a  quart ;  potatoes,  82  to  96  cents  per  cwt.  ;  wood, 
54.25  to  $5  per  cubic  meter  (wood  and  coal  averages  by  weight 
45  cents  for  one  hundred  English  pounds) ;  eggs,  15  to  18  and  20 
cents  a  dozen,  etc. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  prices  for  some  of  the 
necessities  of  life,  also  for  some  of  the  luxuries, 
that  the  German  mechanic  or  laborer  is  obliged 
to  pay  from  the  very  small  sum  of  money  that  he 
receives  for  his  daily  toil. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

ROMANCE  IN  REAL  LIFE.  —  STRANGELY  INTERESTING  CAREER 
OF  A  YOUNG  AMERICAN,  NOW  PRIVY  COUNCILLOR  ANI> 
BOSOM  FRIEND  OF  THE  KING  OF  WURTEMBERG.  —  FROM 
A  FARM  TO  A  CONSULATE,  AND  FROM  A  CONSULATE  TO 
A  PALACE.  —  ORDERS  AND  DECORATIONS  BESTOWED  BY 
CROWNED  HEADS.  —  THE  AMERICAN  COLONY  IN  STUTT- 
GART. 

MANY  an  American  boy,  while  reading 
"  Grimms'  Fairy  Tales,"  or  the  enchanting 
scenes  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  by  the  family 
hearthstone,  on  winter  evenings,  has  wished  that 
some  good  genie  would  suddenly  appear  and  put 
him  in  possession  of  countless  treasures  of  silver 
and  gold ;  would  clothe  him  in  robes  of  costly  silks 
and  velvets,  and  give  him  a  beautiful  palace  to 
live  in,  —  a  palace  glittering  with  untold  wealth, 
where  he  would  be  the  companion  of  kings  and 
queens,  and  persons  of  great  renown. 

And,  while  reading  and  wondering  if  any  such 
marvellous  fortune  could  ever  befall  him,  he  has 
little  realized  that  the  good  genie  of  the  fairy  tale 
might  eventually  single  him  out  as  one  of  its 
favorites,  and  with  its  magic  wand  make  him  the 
possessor  of  all  or  part  that  his  imagination  had 
pictured  and  his  heart  desired. 

Almost  like  a  fairy  tale  reads  the  recent  expe- 
rience of  Richard  M.  Jackson,  late  consular  clerk 


LIKE    A    FAIRY    TALE. 

and  vice-consul  in  the  United  State  consulate  at 
Stuttgart,  Germany,  whose  sudden  transition  from 
the  dull  routine  of  labors  in  a  consul's  office  to 
be  not  only  the  privy  councillor  but  the  favorite 
and  intimate  companion  of  the  king  of  Wiirtem- 
berg,  has  been  a  nine-days'  wonder,  and  has  prob- 
ably caused  more  talk  and  speculation  in  the  king- 
dom of  Wlirtemberg,  and,  in  fact,  throughout  all 
Germany,  than  any  event  that  has  happened  for 
years. 

That  this  rather  strange  procedure  on  the  part 
of  the  king  to  select  for  such  an  important  and 
trusty  position  as  that  of  privy  councillor  a  young 
American,  an  almost  entire  stranger,  should  have 
created  an  immense  amount  of  comment,  and  en- 
gendered much  feeling  and  jealousy  in  German 
society,  was  but  natural,  for  the  position  was  of 
that  high  order,  as  court  minister,  that  it  was  cov- 
eted by  thousands  of  aspiring  Germans,  —  Ger- 
mans high  in  rank,  high  in  social  position,  and 
Germans  with  the  blue  blood  of  royalty  flowing 
in  their  veins. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  my  story,  a 
short  biographical  sketch  of  Mr.  Jackson  will  not 
come  amiss  at  this  point. 

He  is  a  native  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  and  is 
thirty-five  years  of  age.  His  father,  who  was  a 
farmer,  was  a  relative,  first  or  second  cousin,  I 
believe,  of  the  famous  Stonewall  Jackson.  Like 
most  farmers'  sons,  young  Jackson  passed  his  early 


I3O  GOING   ABROAD. 

years  on  the  old  homestead,  tilling  the  soil  during 
the  summer  months,  and  in  the  winter  attending 
the  village  school,  where,  by  close  application  to 
his  studies,  he  became  an  excellent  scholar,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  what  promised  to  be  a  brill- 
iant and  useful  life  in  the  future. 

He  afterward  entered  one  of  the  Ohio  universi- 
ties, and  continued  his  studies  with  success  for  a 
season,  but,  having  a  great  passion  for  music,  and 
wishing  to  visit  Europe,  he  left  college  without 
graduating,  and  came  to  Stuttgart  in  Germany, 
where  he  entered  the  Conservatoire  of  Music 
which  has  made  the  Wlirtemberg  capital  so  fa- 
mous. 

Here  he  made  rapid  progress  as  a  pianist,  and 
by  hard,  diligent  study  soon  acquired  the  German 
language  so  as  to  speak  it  fluently  and  to  write  it 
without  hesitation.  But  the  constant  practising 
on  the  piano  eventually  resulted  in  a  partial  paral- 
ysis of  the  nerves  and  cords  of  the  hands,  so  that 
he  was  unwillingly,  and,  to  his  great  disappoint- 
ment, obliged  to  abandon  his  favorite  profession, 
which  he  had  planned  and  anticipated  for  his 
future. 

Thousands  of  miles  from  his  native  land,  and  with 
limited  resources,  his  situation  was  anything  but 
cheering  or  satisfactory.  It  was  at  this  time  (in 
July,  1875)  that  Hon.  J.  S.  Potter,  of  Boston,  a 
gentleman  well  known  and  highly  esteemed  in  his 
native  State,  having  been  appointed  by  the  Presi- 


AMERICANS    IN    STUTTGART.  13  [ 

dent  United  States  consul  at  Stuttgart,  arrived  at 
his  post  and  took  charge  of  the  consulate.  On 
his  arrival  here  he  was  not  received  with  a  hearty 
social  welcome  by  the  Swabians. 

Americans,  of  whom  there  were  four  or  five 
hundred  in  the  city,  were  anything  but  favorites 
with  the  people,  and  especially  with  the  royal 
family.  Some  young  Americans,  students  at  the 
Conservatoire,  while  on  a  "  lark,"  had  snow-balled 
the  king  the  winter  previous,  in  one  of  the  public 
parks,  as  if  by  accident,  and  pretending  not  to 
know  the  distinguished  personage  whom  they 
were  pelting  without  mercy.  At  another  time, 
under  cover  of  the  darkness  of  night,  some  Amer- 
ican students  bedaubed  with  white  paint  the  beau- 
tiful bronze  bas-reliefs  surrounding  the  base  of  the 
monument  in  front  of  the  royal  palace,  erected  in 
memory  of  King  William,  father  of  the  present 
king.  Not  long  after  this  piece  of  vandalism  the 
king  was  insulted  in  the  street  by  two  Americans, 
one  of  whom,  on  a  wager,  as  it  afterward  proved, 
crossed  the  street  and  requested  permission  to 
light  his  cigar  from  the  Havana  which  the  king 
was  smoking,  —  a  favor  which  his  Majesty  granted 
with  the  greatest  civility. 

Several  other  vexatious  incidents  occurred, 
which  did  not  increase  the  popularity  of  the 
American  colony  or  make  their  presence  any 
more  desirable  in  the  Wurtemberg  capital.  This 
was  but  part  of  the  dark  picture  in  the  background, 


132  THE    UNITED    STATES    CONSULATE. 

as  Mr.  Potter  found  it  on  his  arrival.  His  prede- 
cessor in  the  consulate,  a  mulatto  who  had  repre- 
sented the  United  States,  having  been  recalled  by 
the  government  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons, 
had  left  behind  a  record  and  a  reputation  of  which 
Americans  could  not  feel  proud,  neither  one  that 
his  successor  would  wish  to  inherit. 

So  bitter  was  the  feeling  and  strong  the  prej- 
udice among  the  people,  that  the  new  consul 
found  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  an  office  for  the 
consulate,  or  even  apartments  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  his  family. 

One  of  the  first  duties  that  devolved  on  Mr. 
Potter,  after  getting  established  in  consular  quar- 
ters, which  were  at  last  secured,  —  not,  however, 
without  finding  a  person  who  would  be  security 
for  the  rent,  —  was  to  secure  the  services  of  a  com- 
petent clerk  in  the  consulate.  Looking  around 
the  American  colony  to  find  a  native  American,  if 
possible,  to  fill  the  position,  he  came  across  Mr. 
Jackson,  in  whom  he  found  the  necessary  qualifi- 
cations. 

The  position  was  offered  him,  and,  of  course, 
gladly  accepted.  Nor  did  it  prove  an  unwise 
selection.  The  new  clerk,  by  his  gentlemanly 
deportment,  by  his  strict  integrity,  and  by  his 
faithful  attention  to  the  duties  assigned  him,  soon 
gained  the  good-will,  not  only  of  his  superior 
officer,  but  of  the  people  with  whom  he  came  in 
business  or  social  contact.  After  being  in  the 


ROYAL    RECOGNITION.  133 

office  a  little  over  a  year,  and  the  test  proving  that 
Mr.  Jackson's  ability  and  punctuality  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  official  duties  were  all  that  could  be 
desired,  Mr.  Potter  nominated  him  for  vice-consul, 
and  he  soon  after  received  the  appointment  from 
the  President  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  end  of  five  years  the  public  estimation 
and  opinion  in  Stuttgart  of  the  United  States 
consulate  and  the  officers  having  charge  of  the 
same  seem  to  have  undergone  a  change,  and  the 
causes  which  engendered  the  prejudices  that 
existed  against  it  and  toward  Americans  gener- 
ally were  so  far  forgotten  that  the  humble  young 
American  was  invited  to  step  up  from  his  position 
as  clerk  and  vice-consul  and  take  a  place  of  honor 
in  the  royal  court  and  palaces  of  Wiirtemberg, 
over  the  heads  of  many  of  the  proud  nobility  of 
his  Majesty's  kingdom. 

It  was  in  April,  1881,  that  the  king  first, 
through  the  medium  of  a  correspondence,  invited 
Mr.  Jackson  to  be  a  member  of  the  royal  court  of 
Wiirtemberg.  The  proposition  was  a  great  sur- 
prise to  Mr.  Jackson,  whose  only  acquaintance 
with  his  Majesty  was  by  occasionally  meeting  him 
in  the  streets  or  in  the  parks,  on  which  occasions 
he  would  politely  raise  his  hat,  and  his  Majesty 
would  as  politely  return  the  salute.  The  proposi- 
tion, although  so  tempting,  and  accompanied  with 
the  king's  earnest  wishes  of  its  acceptance  and 
the  promise  of  many  courtly  favors  in  the  future, 


134  A    HOME    IN    THE    PALACE. 

was  at  first  hesitatingly  entertained,  nor  was  it 
accepted  until  after  several  weeks  of  careful  de- 
liberation, and  the  signing,  on  the  part  of  each, 
of  sundry  important  and  carefully  worded  docu- 
ments. 

Several  personal  interviews  were  held  in  mak- 
ing arrangements,  in  addition  to  the  correspond" 
ence  that  was  going  on,  at  each  of  which  the 
king's  interest  in  the  young  American  rapidly 
increased,  and,  to  secure  his  presence  as  member 
of  his  court,  and  as  a  personal  companion,  he  was 
willing  to  bestow  on  him  the  highest  honors  of  his 
realm.  Of  course  it  all  ended  in  Mr.  Jackson's 
resigning  his  vice-consulship  and  his  clerkship  in 
the  consulate,  and  at  once  entering  upon  a  new 
career. 

One  pleasant  morning  in  May  last,  one  of  the 
royal  coaches  from  the  king's  stables,  with  coach- 
men and  footmen  resplendent  in  royal  livery,  was 
seen  standing  in  front  of  Mr.  Jackson's  modest 
boarding-house.  A  large  crowd  gathered  in  the 
street  and  on  the  sidewalks  to  see  for  whom  it  was 
in  waiting.  Was  it  for  the  king  himself,  or  some 
member  of  the  royal  family  ?  In  a  few  minutes 
Mr.  Jackson  makes  his  appearance  and  takes  a  seat 
in  the  coach,  the  footman  closes  the  door  with 
much  ceremony,  the  driver  cracks  his  long  whip 
over  the  backs  of  the  handsome  blooded  horses* 
and  the  young  American  —  who  is  now  an  Ameri- 
can no  longer,  having  renounced  his  nationality 


COURT   FAVORS.  135 

and  sworn  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Wiirtemberg 
and  the  Emperor  of  Germany  —  is  borne  away  to 
his  new  home  in  the  royal  palace. 

An  elegant  suite  of  five  apartments,  luxuriously 
and  splendidly  furnished,  is  awaiting  him.  Foot- 
men, valets,  and  servants,  gorgeous  in  their  scarlet 
liveries,  with  gold  and  silver  lace  trimmings,  are 
in  readiness  to  wait  upon  him  and  to  run  at  every 
beck  and  nod.  Surely  was  even  fairy  tale  more 
fully  realized  than  this?  And  Mr.  Jackson  did 
not  enter  upon  this  new  life  for  a  few  days,  or  a 
few  weeks,  or  a  few  years,  but  for  life,  with  a 
handsome  annual  stipend  guaranteed,  — more  than 
sufficient  to  meet  all  his  requirements.  There 
being  no  vacancy  in  the  court  of  Wiirtemberg, 
the  position  of  "reader  to  his  Majesty"  was  cre- 
ated, to  meet  the  emergency,  for  the  first  time  in 
this  court.  But  two  other  of  the  crowned  heads 
of  Europe  have  court  readers,  —  Queen  Victoria 
and  the  Emperor  of  Germany, —  and  the  creating 
of  this  new  office  in  the  court  of  Wurtemberg 
for  Mr.  Jackson  was  considered  an  exceptional 
honor  and  compliment. 

He  had  not  been  long  installed  in  his  new  posi- 
tion before  court  recognitions  and  favors  began  to 
flow  in  upon  him.  The  king  of  Holland,  a  life- 
long friend  and  brother-in-law  of  the  king  of 
Wurtemberg,  presented  him  the  "  Knight's  Cross 
of  the  Golden  Lion  of  Nassau,"  the  order  of 
the  House  of  Luxembourg.  The  king  of  Sax- 


136  ORDERS    AND    DECORATIONS. 

ony,  who  was  visiting  his  royal  colleague  in  Stutt- 
gart, was  so  highly  pleased  with  the  young  Amer- 
ican that  he  bestowed  on  him  the  "  Knight's  Cross 
of  the  Albert's  Order."  The  Emperor  Franz 
Joseph,  of  Austria,  who  was  staying  with  the 
king  of  Wiirtemberg  for  a  few  days,  at  the  lat- 
ter's  beautiful  country  palace  at  Friedrichshafen, 
on  Lake  Constance,  became  so  interested  in  his 
royal  friend's  protege  that  he  invested  him  with 
the  very  ancient  "  Order  of  the  Iron  Crown  of 
Austria,"  one  of  the  highest  and  most  honorable 
gifts  that  the  Austrian  monarch  can  confer  on  a 
subject.  During  the  month  of  August  the  king 
made  Mr.  Jackson  his  privy  councillor,  and  con- 
ferred on  him  the  title  of  u  Geheimer  Hofrath," 
and  on  the  1 1  th  of  September,  the  birthday  of 
Queen  Olga,  he  gave  him  the  "  Knight's  Cross  of 
the  Crown  of  Wurtemberg.  " 

While  on  a  visit  to  Rome  with  the  king  of 
Wurtemberg,  his  Holiness  the  Pope  has  con- 
ferred on  him  another  title,  the  name  of  which  I 
do  not  remember.  Since  this  last  gift  Mr.  Jack- 
son has  been  made  a  baron.  The  list  of  orders 
and  titles  already  given  and  conferred  stops  here 
for  the  present ;  to  what  numbers  they  will 
increase  in  the  future  time  only  will  tell. 

Seldom,  if  ever,  has  an  American  received  such 
honors  and  such  marks  of  royal  favor. 

Mr.  Jackson's  duties  in  his  new  position  are 
not  onerous  or  burdensome.  Most  of  his  time  he 


"RIDING   BEHIND    THE    KING'S    HORSES."  137 

spends  in  company  with  the  king,  and,  during  his 
(the  king's)  walks  and  rides,  is  his  almost  constant 
companion.  When  his  Majesty  makes  long  9r 
short  visits  to  his  country  palaces  at  Babenhausen, 
Friedrichshafen,  Wilhelma,  or  Berg,  when  he  goes 
on  hunting  excursions  to  various  parts  of  his  king- 
dom or  out  of  his  kingdom,  he  is  sure  to  be  ac- 
companied by  his  new  privy  councillor,  who  has 
become  as  much  attached  to  his  Majesty  as  his 
Majesty  has  to  him.  He  dines  with  the  royal  fam- 
ily, and  his  travelling  expenses  are  paid  wherever 
he  goes.  Certain  horses  in  the  royal  stables  are  at 
his  command,  and  he  has  but  to  express  a  wish  to 
have  it  gratified.  At  the  volksfest  in  Stuttgart, 
during  the  month  of  September  last,  an  immense 
concourse  of  people  gathered  to  witness  the  sports, 
and  also  to  get  a  sight  of  the  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many, who  was  to  be  present.  On  entering  the 
grounds  of  the  race-course  the  king  rode  with  the 
Emperor  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  six  black  horses, 
with  outriders  in  crimson  livery.  Following  the 
royal  carriage  was  another  drawn  by  four  elegant 
horses,  with  outriders  in  the  same  livery,  seated  in 
which  was  Herr  von  Jackson,  with  three  officers 
high  in  rank  in  the  German  army,  in  full  uniform. 
In  addition  to  the  gifts  of  orders  and  titles,  Mr. 
Jackson  has  frequently  received  from  the  king 
testimonials  of  his  friendship  in  the  shape  of  rare 
and  beautiful  books,  paintings,  and  diamonds. 
Probably  there  is  no  court  in  Europe  more  aristo- 


138          THE    KING    AND    QUEEN    OF    WURTEMDERG 

cratic  or  exclusive,  more  punctilious  in  its  eti- 
quette or  surroundings,  or  one  that  puts  on  more 
pomp  and  style  than  the  court  of  Wlirtemberg. 
King  Carl  inherited  his  crown  from  a  long  line  of 
royal  ancestry,  and  Queen  Olga,  who  is  a  sister  of 
the  late  Emperor  of  Russia,  has  the  blood  of  all  the 
Czars  flowing  through  her  veins.  Both  inherited 

O  O 

enormous  wealth,  which  they  scatter  with  liberal 
hands  and  generous  hearts  throughout  the  king- 
dom in  responding  to  the  wants  of  the  poor  and 
needy,  and  to  the  numberless  calls  that  are  con- 
stantly being  made  upon  them  from  various  sources 
for  large  and  small  contributions. 

The  royal  palace  at  Stuttgart,  the  winter  palace, 
as  it  is  called,  is  the  handsomest,  if  not  the  largest, 
palace  in  Germany,  and  the  summer  palaces  at 
Friedrichshafen  on  Lake  Constance,  at  Baben- 
hausen,  at  Berg,  the  Wilhelma  at  Cannstadt,  are 
as  beautiful  and  enchanting  as  unlimited  wealth, 
combined  with  exquisite  taste,  can  make  them 

Many  of  the  reports  that  have  been  circulated 
by  the  German  and  also  by  the  American  press, 
giving  accounts  of  Mr.  Jackson's  rather  remark- 
able entree  to  court  favor,  have  been  mostly  imagi- 
nary, and  certainly  far  from  the  truth.  One  paper 
says:  "  He  became  acquainted  with  the  king  in 
the  gardens  attached  to  the  palace,  and  took  care 
to  meet  the  sovereign  every  day,  and  then  always 
behaved  with  such  respectful  admiration  as  first 
attracted  the  monarch's  attention,  and  then  won 


PERSONAL    APPEARANCE.  139 

his  favor."  All  of  which  is  untrue,  as  Mr.  Jackson 
never  dreamed  of  courting  royal  favor,  and  only 
met  the  king  accidentally,  while  going  to  or  from 
the  consulate  and  his  boarding-house,  or  occasion- 
ally while  taking  an  afternoon  stroll  in  the  public 
parks,  as  would  any  other  private  citizen. 

Other  stories,  too  ridiculous  and  foolish  for  rep- 
etition, have  been  circulated  in  regard  to  his  great 
influence  over  the  king,  and  forcing  himself  con- 
spicuously upon  his  attention. 

One  paper,  speaking  of  Mr.  Jackson's  personal 
appearance,  says :  *;  He  is  tall  and  slender,  very 
handsome,  with  a  blond  mustache,  brown  hair, 
and  very  dark  eyes,"  etc.  Whereas  he  is  just  the 
opposite  from  this,  though  he  is  not  what  would 
be  called  homely.  He  is  in  appearance  more 
German  than  American.  He  is  about  five  feet 
eight  inches  high,  weighs  nearly  two  hundred 
pounds,  is  broad  shouldered,  with  a  square  face, 
cleanly  shaved  except  his  mustache,  which  is 
brown  like  his  hair,  instead  of  being  blond.  His 
eyes  are  more  blue  than  gray,  and  have  a  pleasant, 
winning  expression  that  lights  up  his  face  and 
makes  it  almost  fascinating  to  those  with  whom  he 
comes  in  contact.  He  is,  withal,  a  perfect  gentle- 
man in  deportment,  is  finely  educated,  an  excellent 
conversationalist,  and,  with  a  well-balanced  mind, 
and  a  good  American  head  on  his  shoulders,  will 
not  only  be  able  to  take  care  of  himself,  but  will 
do  honor  to  the  country  from  which  he  has  sev- 
ered his  nationality. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  ART  TREASURES  OF  MUNICH.  —  A  GLIMPSE  AT  THE 
PICTURE  GALLERIES.  —  "  ORIGINALS  "  BY  THE  "  OLD 
MASTERS."  —  A  VISIT  TO  THE  FAMOUS  BRONZE  AND  IRON 
FOUNDRIES  AND  STAINED-GLASS  WORKS.  —  THE  NA- 
TIONAL MUSEUM  AND  THE  RICHES  OF  THE  KING'S  PALACE. 

IF  your  wanderings  abroad  ever  bring  you  to 
Germany,  be  sure  and  visit  Munich.  It  will 
pay  you  to  come  here,  even  should  you  not  go 
anywhere  else.  The  city  is  wonderfully  rich  in 
art  treasures,  palaces,  and  public  buildings.  It  is 
like  a  vast  storehouse  filled  to  overflowing  with 
rare  paintings,  sculpture,  architecture,  and  the 
endless  collections  of  bric-a-brac  souvenirs  of  past 
ages  as  well  as  of  the  present. 

Prolong  your  stay  two,  three,  or  even  four 
weeks,  employ  every  available  hour  in  sight-seeing, 
and,  when  at  last  you  turn  your  back  upon  the 
city,  you  will  find  that  you  have  left  much  undone 
and  many  rare  sights  unseen. 

Paintings,  of  course,  take  the  precedence  of  all 
other  attractions ;  for  painting  as  an  art  is  a  spe- 
cialty of  Munich,  and  its  school  is  famous  the  world 
over. 

There  are  ten  public  galleries,  some  of  them  of 
large  size,  besides  many  splendid  private  galleries 
containing  magnificent  gems  of  art,  to  which  the 


ART   GALLERIES    IN    MUNICH.  141 

stranger  can  gain  admission  on  application  to  the 
owners.  The  paintings  of  the  old  and  the  new 
school,  arranged  on  the  continuous  side  wall  of  a 
gallery,  would  reach  miles. 

And  these  public  and  private  collections  do  not 
comprise  all  the  wealth  of  Munich  in  paintings, 
either.  The  palace  of  the  king  of  Bavaria,  a  huge 
cluster  of  enormous  buildings,  occupies  an  exten- 
sive area  in  the  centre  of  the  city.  The  palace 
itself,  with  its  numberless  wings  extending  hun- 
dreds of  feet  in  all  directions  of  the  compass,  are 
full  of  vast  halls  and  corridors,  the  walls  of  which 
are  covered  with  some  of  the  choicest  and  most 
expensive  works  of  the  old  and  modern  masters. 

Of  the  public  galleries  the  "  Old  Pinakothek," 
as  it  is  called,  is  the  largest.  It  is  five  hundred 
feet  long,  and  contains  only  the  works  of  the  old 
masters,  of  the  Italian,  Venetian,  Dutch,  Flemish, 
Spanish,  and  German  schools  up  to  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Every  painting  is  vouched  for  as  being  an  origi- 
nal of  the  painter  to  whom  it  is  attributed.  Sev- 
eral of  Murillo's  most  famous  paintings,  of  which 
we  so  often  see  copies  and  engravings — his  "  Beg- 
gar Boys  eating  Fruit,"  "  Street  Boys  playing 
Dice,"  '•  Boys  playing  with  a  Dog,"  "  Fruit  Sell- 
ers," etc.  —  are  in  this  gallery. 

Domenichino's  famous  painting  of  "  Susanna  and 
the  Elders,"  Guide's  "  Saint  Magdalen  "  and  "  Saint 
John  the  Evangelist,"  Carlo  Dolci's  "  Penitent 


142          "ORIGINALS"  BY  THE  OLD  MASTERS. 

Magdalen,"  are  also  in  this  collection.  There 
are  also  eighteen  paintings  by  Holbein,  fourteen 
Rembrandts,  thirteen  Durers,  fifteen  Riberas,  and 
eighty-three  attributed  to  Rubens,  many  of  which 
are  very  large,  covering  canvases  from  ten  to 
twenty  feet  square.  Albert  Durer,  who  died  in 
1528,  and  who  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  men 
of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  was  a  native  of 
Nuremberg,  near  Munich,  and  spent  the  greater 
share  of  his  life  in  that  city. 

It  is  wonderful  how  busy  the  old  masters  must 
have  kept  themselves  to  have  produced  even  a 
quarter  part  of  the  paintings  which  are  exhibited 
as  their  originals.  The  amount  of  painted  canvas 
which  is  attributed  to  Rubens  alone  would  canopy 
a  small  heaven.  And  so  it  is  with  all  the  old 
masters  ;  their  works  seem  to  increase  and  multiply 
as  the  world  grows  older.  The  moment  an  Amer- 
ican steps  foot  on  European  soil  his  attention  is 
called  to  the  work  of  their  brushes  wherever  he 
goes. 

In  all  of  the  royal  palaces,  in  the  public  and 
private  galleries,  in  the  old  castles,  in  many  of  the 
churches  and  cathedrals,  and  in  the  houses  of  the 
nobility  and  of  the  men  of  wealth,  in  all  the  Euro- 
pean countries,  from  Ireland  to  Russia,  and  from 
Norway  to  Spain,  "  originals,"  or  what  are  claimed 
as  originals,  of  Titian,  Rubens,  Raphael,  Murillo, 
Van  Dyck,  Rembrandt,  Holbein,  Correggio,  Guido, 
and  many  others,  are  sure  to  be  on  exhibition. 


HIGH    PRICES    OF    THE    OLD    MASTERS.  143 

No  gallery  seems  to  be  complete  without  speci- 
mens of  the  works  of  all  these  great  painters.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  fine  old  paint- 
ings were  not  the  work  of  an  hour,  a  day,  or  a 
week.  Painters  cannot  work  rapidly  and  do  their 
work  perfectly.  Many  of  the  choicest  productions 
of  their  brushes  required  many  months,  and,  in 
many  cases,  years  of  hard  labor  to  complete. 
Raphael,  who  died  in  1520,  only  lived  to  be  thirty- 
seven  years  old,  and  the  greater  part  of  his  life, 
the  best  part,  he  was  employed  by  the  Pope  in 
painting  the  wonderful  frescos  in  the  Vatican 
and  in  the  churches  at  Rome.  How,  then,  did  he 
find  time  to  paint  the  thousands  of  pictures  which 
are  attributed  to  him  all  over  Italy,  France,  Spain, 
Germany,  and  elsewhere  ? 

The  prices  at  which  these  "originals"  by  the 
old  masters  are  often  sold  is  something  fabulous. 
A  small  authenticated  original,  by  Murillo,  the 
canvas  r^  which  was  only  about  twenty  inches 
square,  sold  at  auction  in  Paris  recently  for 
125,000  francs,  or  about  $25,000,  and  it  is  said 
that  over  $1,000,000  has  been  refused  for  the  six 
original  Murillos  in  the  Munich  gallery.  Pictures 
by  Raphael,  Titian,  Guido,  Rubens,  Holbein, 
Snyders,  Teniers,  Claude  Lorraine,  Poussin,  and 
all  the  celebrated  painters  whose  works  made  them 
famous,  sell  for  prices  which  can  hardly  be  accred- 
ited. So  great  is  the  demand  for  them,  and  so 
great  the  profit  realized  when  sales  are  made,  that 


144  "ORIGINALS     FURNISHED  TO  ORDER. 

there  is  no  end  to  the  swindling  practices  and  de- 
ceptions resorted  to  by  picture  dealers  and  others 
to  palm  off  as  "  originals  "  the  worst  of  frauds  and 
imitations. 

Old  trash,  that  has  been  hidden  out  of  sight  in 
deserted  garrets  as  too  worthless  or  too  hideous  for 
exposure,  is  brought  to  light  from  its  long  retire- 
ment, and  often  proves  a  bonanza  of  wealth  to  the 
unscrupulous  and  tricky  discoverer.  The  mono- 
grams and  autographs  of  the  old  masters  are  inge- 
niously inscribed  on  the  front  or  back  of  the  paint- 
ings, and  then  skilfully  hidden  and  covered  over 
with  paint,  dust,  cobwebs,  and  age.  In  the  gradual 
restoring  of  the  old  and  worthless  canvas  these 
forged  monograms  and  autographs  of  the  great 
painters  become  plainly  but  half  indistinctly  visi- 
ble, and  are  supposed  to  prove  their  identity. 

There  is  probably  not  an  old  picture  dealer  in 
London  or  Paris,  or  in  any  of  the  continental  cities, 
but  what  has  on  hand,  or  will,  furnish  to  order,  any 
number  of  "  originals  "  from  any  one  of  the  old 
masters  that  may  be  desired. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  it,  but  it  is  a  well-known  fact 
over  here,  that  any  number  of  these  worthless 
deceptions  have  been  palmed  off  on'  innocent 
Americans  at  great  prices.  So  when  you  hear 
that  your  travelled  neighbor  who  lives  next  door,  or 
over  the  way,  has  become  the  possessor  of  an 
original  Murillo,  Rubens,  Titian,  Guido,  and  so  on, 
at  a  cost  sufficient  to  have  purchased  a  well-stocked 


THE    BRONZE    FOUNDRY    AT    MUNICH.  145 

farm  or  a  good-sized  cotton  factory,  you  can  take 
the  assertion  for  all  it  is  worth,  but  don't  try  to  dis- 
pel his  illusion  of  being  the  possessor  of  a  great  art 
treasure ;  rather  pity  him  for  having  thrown  money 
away  with  which  he  might  have  encouraged  some 
worthy  American  artist  by  purchasing  his  really 
meritorious  works  instead  of  the  miserable  coun- 
terfeits which  he  displays  and  boasts  of  as  originals. 

But  I  have  wandered  away  from  Munich,  where 
there  is  so  much  of  interest  to  write  about,  apart 
from  its  picture  galleries,  that  one  is  at  a  loss  where 
to  commence  or  where  to  leave  off.  The  city 
seems  to  be  thoroughly  given  up  to  art  in  its  vari- 
ous forms  and  channels. 

I  went  through  its  famous  bronze  foundry,  and 
was  shown  by  one  of  the  proprietors  the  different 
apartments  and  the  various  processes  of  convert- 
ing: the  molten  bronze  into  the  magnificent  statues 

o  o 

which  adorn  most  of  the  public  squares,  parks,  and 
public  buildings  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
Several  large  halls,  communicating  with  each  other, 
contain  the  plaster  models  of  all  the  works  which 
this  celebrated  establishment  has  produced.  As  I 
went  through  the  different  halls  it  was  apparent 
that  America  had  been  a  most  liberal  patron  and 
customer  in  having  its  great  men  reproduced  in 
imperishable  bronze  for  future  ages  to  gaze  upon. 
Around  me  were  the  familiar  forms  of  Webster, 
Clay,  Lincoln,  Patrick  Henry,  Marshall,  Jefferson, 

Horace  Mann,  and  many  others.     Conspicuous  in 
10 


146  STAINED-GLASS   WORKS. 

the  centre  of  one  of  the  halls  was  the  colossal 
equestrian  statue  of  Washington,  twenty-four  feet 
high,  which  was  cast  for  the  State  of  Virginia  in 
1857,  and  near  by  was  the  model  of  the  bronze 
doors  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 

Munich  has  several  manufactories  of  stained- 
glass  windows,  which  have  a  world-wide  reputation. 
I  was  permitted  to  go  through  that  of  Mayer  & 
Co.,  which  employs  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
workmen.  It  was  very  interesting  to  go  through 
the  different  apartments  and  watch  the  manipulat- 
ing of  the  stained  glass  as  it  went  through  the 
hands  of  the  various  artisans  until  it  blossomed  out 
into  the  grand  cathedral  windows,  many  of  which, 
I  was  told,  cost  from  $10,000  to  $20,000  each.  I 
was  shown  windows  which  were  beinsf  finished  for 

O 

cathedrals  or  churches  in  Paris,  London,  Madrid, 
Seville,  Malaga,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  for 
others  in  South  American  cities. 

Munich  is  particularly  rich  in  its  elegant  bronze 
monuments  and  statues,  over  twenty  of  which 
stand  silent  sentinels  in  the  various  parks  and 
public  squares.  On  the  Maximilianstrasse  is  a 
statue  of  the  American,  Benjamin  Thompson, 
known  as  Count  Rumford,  who  was  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire.  He  resided  some  years  in 
Munich,  and  was  instrumental  in  producing  many 
long-needed  reforms  and  in  originating  and  suc- 
cessfully completing  many  of  the  chief  embellish- 
ments and  attractions  of  the  city.  For  his  great 


THE    FAMOUS    BRONZE    STATUE    OF    BAVARIA.         147 

merits  and  for  the  services  he  had  rendered  the 
people,  the  elector,  Carl  Theodore,  created  him 
Count  Rumford. 

The  most  famous  of  all  the  statues,  and  one 
which  is  visited  by  all  strangers,  is  the  herculean 
figure  of  Bavaria,  which  stands  on  rising  ground  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  city.  It  represents  a  female 
standing  in  an  upright  position,  holding  a  sword 
in  one  hand  and  a  wreath  of  laurel  raised  over  the 
head  in  the  other.  The  statue  itself  is  fiftv-four 

*» 

feet  high,  and  it  is  sixty-six  feet  to  the  top  of  the 
uplifted  wreath  of  laurel.  A  flight  of  nearly  one 
hundred  steps  in  the  interior  leads  up  to  the  head? 
where,  out  of  the  huge  eyes,  which  look  like  open 
port-holes,  a  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  country 
is  to  be  seen.  In  the  interior  of  the  head  are  two 
bronze  seats  in  imitation  of  cushioned  lounges, 
which  will  comfortably  seat  six  persons,  but 
twelve  persons  can  crowd  into  the  space  and  find 
standing-room. 

For  the  casting  of  this  huge  statue  sixty-one 
tons  of  bronze  metal  were  required,  and  the  cost 
when  completed  was  nearly  $150,000. 

At  the  bronze  foundry  which  I  visited  and 
where  the  statue  of  Bavaria  was  cast,  the  work- 
men were  engaged  upon  another  statue,  which  is 
to  be  still  more  colossal,  and  which,  when  com- 
pleted, is  to  be  christened  Germania. 

In  the  enormous  well  or  excavation  which  had 
been  sunk  deep  down  into  the  earth  like  the  giant 


148  THE    MUSEUM   AT    MUNICH. 

shaft  of  a  coal  mine,  I  could  see  that  the  casting- 
had  taken  place,  and  that  the  colossal  figure  had 
already  taken  form.  A  large  number  of  workmen 
were  perched  around  on  its  body,  on  its  arms  and 
shoulders,  busy  with  hammers,  files,  and  chisels, 
some,  supported  by  ladders  and  others  by  small 
stagings,  reminding  me  of  the  pictures  of  Gul- 
liver's travels  in  Liliput,  where  the  Liliputians 
resorted  to  ladders  to  ascend  the  body  of  the  huge 
and  wonderful  stranger  in  their  midst. 

The  National  Museum  of  Munich  is  the  largest 
in  Germany,  and  one  of  the  richest  and  most  ex- 
tensive in  its  treasures  of  any  in  Europe.  It  is  a 
building  of  elegant  architecture,  —  having  a  front- 
age of  nearly  five  hundred  feet  on  Maximilian- 
strasse,  the  finest  street  in  Munich,  —  with  wings 
extending  in  the  rear  and  enclosing  a  court,  in 
which  are  preserved  many  quaint  and  rare  tomb- 
stones and  monuments  whose  ages  can  be 
reckoned  by  centuries.  The  building  has  three 
lofty  stories,  each  of  which  is  overflowing  with 
rare  treasures  of  the  past,  especially  with  relics 
and  souvenirs  connected  with  German  history 
from  the  remotest  ages. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  specify  all  that  it  con- 
tains of  remarkabl-e  interest.  One  of  the  halls 
is  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  the  relics  of 
famous  generals  and  the  many  dynasties  of  the 
German  kings ;  among  them  are  some  of  the 
military  clothes  of  Frederick  the  Great,  his  war 


ITS    RARE   TREASURES.  149 

saddle,  pistols,  sword,  walking-stick,  etc.  There 
are  also  relics  of  Joseph  II.,  Maria  Theresa,  Napo- 
leon, and  many  others.  In  one  of  the  rooms  are 
the  proofs  of  the  first  daguerreotype  plates,  made 
by  Daguerre  himself,  and  which  he  presented  to  the 
king  of  Bavaria.  In  the  collection  of  war  imple- 
ments is  a  breech-loading  gun  and  revolving  rifle 
made  in  the  seventeenth  century,  also  the  model 
of  a  mitrailleuse  gun  made  for  the  historic  king 
of  Sweden,  Gustavus  Adolphus.  One  of  the 
halls  was  entirely  devoted  to  the  exhibition  of 
exquisite  and  most  elaborate  carvings  in  ivory,  an 
art  in  which  the  Germans  have  always  excelled  all 
other  nations.  The  collection  is  the  largest  and 
the  finest  in  the  world,  and  the  variety  and  the 
numberless  specimens,  many  a  one  of  which  I 
was  assured  was  the  work  "of  a  lifetime,  seemed 
without  end. 

To  fully  describe  the  king's  palace,  and  the 
enormous  wealth  it  contains  in  the  shape  of  rare 
paintings,  frescos,  tapestries,  decorations,  curios- 
ities, marbles,  precious  stones,  etc.,  would  take  up 
a  large  space  in  this  book. 

In  one  of  the  chambers,  the  "  spare  chamber," 
probably,  is  a  bed  in  which  Napoleon  slept,  the 
drapery  and  coverlid  of  which  are  so  heavily  and 
richly  wrought  with  gold  embroidery  that  they 
are  said  to  have  cost  800,000  florins,  or  about 
$336,000.  These  old  Bavarian  kings  must  have 
laid  awake  nights  taxing  their  ingenuity  in  devis- 


ROYALTY    AN    EXPENSIVE    LUXURY. 

ing  plans  for  spending  and  squandering  the  hard- 
earned  money  of  the  people,  —  of  the  hard-working 
peasant  and  mechanic,  —  which  had  to  be  raised 
by  taxation.  Is  it  a  wonder  that  nihilism  and 
socialism  is  on  the  increase  in  this  Old  World? 
What  would  be  said  of  one  of  our  New  England 
governors,  or  even  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  if  he  should  require  a  salary  sufficient  to 
indulge  in  the  luxury  of  a  $336,000  bed  ?  And 
yet  this  bed  was  but  a  small  item  in  the  annual 
expenses  of  the  king  who  ordered  its  manufacture. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  BAVARIAN  CAPITAL.  —  ITS  TREASURES  OF  ART  AND 
ARCHITECTURE. — THE  BAVARIAN  KINGS  THE  GREATEST 
PATRONS  OF  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES.  —  THE  ECCENTRIC 
KING  Louis,  A  ROYAL  CRANK.  —  His  LOVE  OF  Music.— 
STORIES  OF  HIS  ECCENTRICITIES. — THE  KING  AND  THE 
NIGHTINGALE. 

MUNICH,  although  so  attractive  as  a  great 
art  city  and  overflowing  like  an  immense 
museum  with  its  gathered  treasures  of  art,  is  not 
a  favorite  residence  for  the  English  or  Ameri- 
cans, and  but  very  few  of  either  nationality  make 
it  their  home  for  any  length  of  time.  During  the 
season  of  the  year  when  tourists  spread  over  the 
Continent  like  swarms  of  locusts,  Munich  is 
overrun  with  Anglo-American  representatives, 
with  guide-books  under  their  arms,  who  make 
brief  visits,  spend  a  few  hours  in  each  of  the  most 
important  galleries  and  museums,  and  then  depart 
for  fresh  fields  of  sight-seeing. 

But  few  of  them,  however,  remain  to  take  up 
their  abode,  as  they  do  in  the  German  cities  of 
Berlin,  Dresden,  Leipsic,  Stuttgart,  and  other 
places,  in  each  of  which  large  colonies  of  English- 
speaking  residents  congregate. 

The  city,  unfortunately,  has  the  reputation  of 
being  unhealthy,  and,  when  once  a  city  gets  such 
a  reputation,  whether  it  may  be  well  founded  or 


152  THE    CLIMATE    AND    HEALTH    OF    MUNICH. 

not,  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  the  travelling  pub- 
lic believe  to  the  contrary.  The  mortality  from 
malarial  fevers,  which  foreigners  attribute  to  bad 
sewerage  and  often  to  no  sewerage,  is  said  to  be 
excessive,  and  the  fact  that  many  strangers  have 
died  here  in  years  past,  as  they  have  in  Rome, 
has  given  the  city  a  bad  name  and  caused  it  to  be 
shunned  by  hundreds  who  would  gladly  have  re- 
mained here  to  avail  themselves  of  its  splendid 
art  schools  and  also  its  cheap  rates  of  living. 

The  city,  which  has,  including  its  suburbs, 
about  230,000  inhabitants,  and  ranks  fourth  in 
population  to  the  larger  German  cities  of  Berlin, 
Breslau,  and  Hamburg,  is  situated  on  a  broad 
and  sterile  plain,  1,700  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  its  close  proximity  to  the  Bavarian  Alps 
renders  it  liable  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  to  fre- 
quent and  sudden  changes  of  climate,  which 
strangers  are  not  apt  to  anticipate  and  are  sure 
not  to  guard  themselves  against.  From  this 
source,  undoubtedly,  much  sickness  is  caused,  as 
it  is,  also,  in  the  narrow  streets  of  the  old  part  of 
the  city,  where,  for  the  want  of  sewerage,  the  gut- 
ters and  even  the  narrow  streets  themselves  flow 
with  filth  and  are  rank  with  unsavory  odors  that 
"smell  to  high  heaven."  But  the  streets  of 
Munich,  as  a  rule,  especially  those  in  what  might 
be  called  modern  Munich,  are  broad  and  elegant, 
and  no  finer  or  cleaner-kept  streets  are  to  be 
found  in  any  of  the  European  cities. 


MONUMENTS    OF    ART    AND    ARCHITECTURE.  153 

Most  of  the  streets  which  radiate  from  the  cen- 
tre of  the  city  are  like  wide  avenues  or  grand 
boulevards,  and  are  adorned  with  much  taste  and, 
in  many  instances,  at  enormous  expense.  Mag- 
nificent bronze  statues,  costly  monuments,  tiny 
little  parks  with  patches  of  greensward,  miniature 
gardens  with  flower-beds  laid  out  with  exquisite 
taste,  ornamental  trees,  and  flowering  shrubs  or- 
nament the  many  important  streets  and  public 
squares. 

At  the  termini  of  several  of  the  streets  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city  are  triumphal  arches  or  gate- 
ways, the  building  of  which  would  have  done 
honor  to  the  old  Romans.  The  Siegesthor,  or 
arch  of  victory,  which  spans  the  Ludwigstrasse, 
was  built  by  King  Louis  I.  of  Bavaria,  and  was  six 
years  in  the  course  of  erection.  It  is  about  one 
hundred  feet  broad  and  eighty  feet  high,  and  the 
broad  space  on  its  top  is  ornamented  by  one  of  the 
grandest  pieces  of  bronze  castings  in  the  world. 
Bavaria,  represented  as  a  female  figure,  is  standing 
in  a  Roman  chariot  driving  four  lions  abreast.  The 
whole  thing  is  of  colossal  size,  requiring  over  thirty 
tons  of  bronze  in  its  casting.  The  figure  of  Bava- 
ria must  be  nearly  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  the 
lions  are  as  large  as  good-sized  elephants. 

At  the  terminus  of  Briennerstrasse  is  another 
magnificent  arch,  built,  also,  by  King  Louis  I.  in 
commemoration  of  the  Greek  war  of  independ- 
ence. It  took  eight  years  for  its  completion,  and 


154  WEALTH    OF    MUNICH. 


is  built  in  imitation  of  the  Acropolis  at  Athens. 
The  enormous  structure,  arching  over  three  dis- 
tinct driveways,  is  supported  in  part  by  twenty-two 
lofty  Doric  and  Ionic  columns,  with  two  towers  ris- 
ing: from  each  of  its  sides  which  are  one  hundred 

o 

and  ten  feet  high. 

I  have  not  space  to  describe  separately  the 
many  elegant  and  costly  public  and  private  build- 
ings with  which  Munich  abounds,  —  its  palaces, 
churches,  and  cathedrals,  its  athenaeums  and  acad 
emies  of  learning,  its  universities,  its  Conservatory 
of  Music,  its  schools  of  art  and  science,  its  public 
libraries  and  museums,  its  royal  mint,  hospitals 
and  barracks  for  soldiers,  its  magnificent  edifices 
built  expressly  for  its  collections  of  paintings  and 
sculpture,  its  beautiful  parks,  bridges,  and  public 
gardens.  I  know  not  where  to  stop,  and,  mind 
you,  that  everything  that  is  built  by  the  govern- 
ment or  by  municipal  authority  is  on  a  scale  of 
grandeur  and  at  an  expense  which  would  astonish 
the  officials  of  our  wealthiest  American  cities. 
Would  there  not  be  a  commotion  among  the  tax- 
payers of  a  city  like  Boston,  for  instance,  at  such  a 
wholesale  expenditure  of  the  public  moneys  ?  and 
what  would  they  say  at  rinding  among  the  items 
of  the  city's  expenses  the  cost  of  the  two  trium- 
phal arches  I  have  mentioned  above,  or  of  the 
bronze  statue  of  Bavaria,  which  were  built  for  or- 
nament only  and  to  gratify  the  luxurious  taste  of 
an  extravagant  king?  And  yet  Boston  has  un- 


ROYAL    PATRONAGE    OF    THE    ART.  155 

doubtedly  more  than  double  the  available  wealth 
of  Munich. 

For  its  wonderful  advancement  in  the  arts  and 
sciences,  for  its  great  wealth  in  art  treasures  and 
public  monuments,  and  for  ranking  first,  as  it 
does,  among  the  art  cities  of  Europe,  Munich  is 
indebted,  principally,  to  the  munificent  patronage 
of  King  Louis  I.  of  Bavaria,  and  of  his  son,  King 
Maximilian  II.  Louis  I.  came  upon  the  throne  in 
1825  and  ruled  until  1848,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Maximilian,  who,  at  his  death,  in  1864, 
'was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Louis  II.,  the  present 
erratic  and  incomprehensible  king,  whose  strange 
manners  and  peculiarities  since  he  has  occupied 
the  throne  have  been  the  topic  of  conversation 
and  discussion  the  world  over.  It  was  the 
encouragement  and  the  fostering  patronage  of 
the  Kings  Louis  and  Maximilian  that  developed 
such  painters,  sculptors,  and  architects  as  Corne- 
lius, Kaulbach,  Schwind,  Piloty,  Hess,  Schorn, 
Gartner,  Schwanthaler,  Klenze,  Stiegelmayn,  and 
numberless  others  whose  names  became  famous 
by  the  magnificent  work  they  have  left  behind 
them. 

The  present  King  Louis,  who  is  supposed  to 
reside  in  his  palace  at  Munich,  but  who  is  seldom 
ever  seen  here,  instead  of  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  illustrious  predecessors  as  a  patron 
and  lover  of  art,  turns  his  attention  almost 
entirely  to  music.  By  many  he  is  considered 


156  AN    ECCENTRIC    KING. 

music-mad,  and  by  many  mad  without  music  as 
an  accessory.  He  is  an  enigma  to  all  Bavaria,  to 
all  Germany,  to  all  Europe,  and  is  to  the  mass  of 
the  people  as  mysterious  a  personage  as  the  his- 
torical man  in  the  iron  mask. 

He  has  a  monomania  of  hiding  himself  from 
the  eyes  of  the  world,  —  to  make  himself  a  recluse, 
a  man  of  mystery.  But  few  of  his  subjects  have 
even  been  able  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  him.  A 
German  gentleman  told  me  here  that  he  had 
resided  in  Munich  twelve  years  and  had  never 
been  able  to  get  a  sight  of  his  Majesty.  The 
anecdotes  and  strange  stories  that  are  told  of  him 
would  fill  a  good-sized  volume,  and  scarcely  a 
week  passes  but  what  a  sensation  is  produced  by 
some  new  eccentricity.  Although  the  inheritor 
of  great  wealth  from  his  ancestors,  he  is  in  yearly 
receipt  from  the  Bavarian  government  of  the 
princely  sum  of  5,344,380  marks,  or  $1,336,095, 
small  annuities  from  which  are  paid  out  to  two  or 
three  princes  of  the  royal  family  of  Bavaria. 

His  vast  income  is  spent  with  a  reckless  prodi- 
gality. He  builds  opera-houses  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, pays  composers  large  sums  for  writing 
operas  for  his  individual  benefit,  and  employs  the 
best  opera  troupes  and  orchestras  in  Germany  at 
their  own  price,  to  perform  these  operas  before 
him,  —  the  only  listener.  Wagner  is  said  to  be 
the  king's  most  intimate  friend.  The  room  where 
I  am  writing  this  was  occupied  by  the  author  of 


MVSTERIOUS    AND    INCOMPREHENSIBLE.  157 

"  Lohengrin"  and  "  Tannhauser"  when  he  was  in 
Munich  on  a  short  visit  a  few  weeks  since.  On  a 
side  table  near  me  is  a  handsome  gilt  wicker-basket 
full  of  withered  flowers.  Every  morning  while 
here,  a  messenger  in  full  livery  from  the  king 
brought  an  offering  of  the  choicest  of  flowers  to 
Wagner;  and  this  basket,  with  its  faded  contents, 
is  a  souvenir  of  the  king's  love  and  friendship  for 
the  great  composer. 

The  king,  who  is  unmarried,  is  a  young  man 
thirty-six  years  of  age,  and  never  as  yet  has  shown 
any  inclination  or  disposition  to  divide  his  honors 
by  placing  a  queen  on  the  Bavarian  throne.  He 
is  straight  and  handsome,  with  a  martial  bearing, 
his  hair  is  black,  and  his  skin  as  white  and  deli- 
cate as  a  girl's,  and  his  dark,  full  eyes  have  a 
dreamy,  sad,  and  sometimes  wild  expression,  which 
adds  to  the  mystery  and  romance  that  surround 
him.  He  seldom  remains  but  a  few  hours,  or  at 
the  longest  a  few  days  at  a  time,  in  the  grand  old 
palace  at  Munich,  which  was  built  by  his  ances- 
tors at  such  an  enormous  expense.  He  gives  no 
court  balls  or  receptions,  he  is  attended  by  no 
servants  in  livery,  neither  does  he  "  ride  after  the 
king's  horses  "  in  the  state  carnages.  He  comes 
and  goes,  and  the  public  knows  not  of  his  coming, 
or  of  his  going,  or  of  his  whereabouts. 

His  favorite  residence  is  at  Berg,  a  fairy-like 
palace  or  castle  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Starnberg, 
an  hour's  ride  by  rail  from  Munich.  With  his 


158  THE    SOLITARY    HORSEMAN. 

almost  inexhaustible  wealth  the  king  has  endeav- 
ored to  make  his  chosen  residence  a  reality  of  some 
Eastern  romance  or  fairy  story,  a  palace  built  by 
enchantment.  Here  he  passes  the  greater  por- 
tion of  his  time  in  strict  seclusion.  His  own  ser- 
vants wait  upon  him  and  do  his  bidding  without 
seeing  him  ;  and  his  private  secretary  is  not 
allowed  to  be  in  his  presence,  but  receives  his  in- 
structions through  folds  of  heavy  drapery.  When 
he  travels,  he  travels  in  disguise  ;  no  troupe  of 
servants  and  lackeys  precede  or  follow  after  him, 
and  they  are  not  allowed  even  to  know  of  his  de- 
parture or  of  his  return. 

When  the  Emperor  of  Austria  visited  Munich, 
a  few  months  since,  the  king  had  been  forewarned 
of  his  coming,  and  suddenly  disappeared  during 
the  dark  hours  of  the  night  previous  lo  the  Empe- 
ror's arrival.  No  one  knew  where  he  had  flown. 
At  a  small  railway  station  many  miles  from 
Munich  a  special  train  for  some  special  purpose 
was  in  waiting  at  midnight.  A  solitary  horseman 
dressed  as  a  peasant  came  dashing  up,  and,  hastily 
dismounting  from  his  foaming  steed,  jumped  on 
board  of  the  train  and  was  borne  away.  The  man 
in  the  peasant's  dress  is  the  only  passenger,  and 
the  men  in  charge  of  the  train  whisper  to  each 
other,  "  It  is  the  king."  This  is  the  story.  Two 
or  three  weeks  afterward  the  king  was  discovered 
living  in  retirement  in  a  small  village  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Lucerne,  in  Switzerland. 


THE    KING    AND    THE    NIGHTINGALE.  159 

Here  he  seldom  ventured  out  from  his  retreat 
during  the  daytime,  but  spent  his  evenings  and 
sometimes  the  entire  night  being  rowed  back  and 
forth  in  a  small  boat  on  the  blue  waters  of  the 
lake,  listening  to  the  winding  and  echoes  of 
Alpine  horns  blown  by  mountaineers  on  the 
shores  and  on  the  mountain-sides,  whom  he  had 
hired  for  the  purpose. 

A  good  anecdote  is  told  of  the  king  as  happening 
at  his  palace  at  Berg  during  the  early  weeks  of 
the  past  summer.  It  was  known  tha-t  his  Majesty 
was  passionately  fond  of  the  music  of  nightingales, 
and  that  he  had  often  regretted  that  the  German 
climate  was  too  severe  for  these  beautiful  songsters 
of  the  night  to  thrive  in  his  parks  or  the  Bavarian 
forests. 

It  seems  that  one  of  the  soldiers  whose  duty  it 
was  to  guard  the  palace  grounds  had  learned  to 
imitate  the  notes  of  these  midnight  warblers  to 
such  perfection  that  it  was  difficult  to  detect  the 
song  of  the  real  bird  from  the  imitation. 

So  a  surprise  was  planned  for  the  king.  One 
beautiful  moonlight  night  word  was  sent  to  his 
Majesty  that  a  nightingale  was  singing  ampng  the 
foliage  of  some  trees  in  the  gardens  adjoining  the 
palace.  He  hastened  out,  not  daring  to  believe 
that  the  report  could  be  true.  But  lo !  he  had  not 
been  misinformed.  The  silvery  notes  of  this 
feathered  prima  donna,  so  wonderful,  so  beautiful, 
rich,  and  full,  rising,  and  falling,  and  trilling,  and 


I6O  MOONLIGHT   SERENADES 

at  times  dying  away  like  the  distant  echoes  of  a 
flute,  were  filling  the  moonlight  air  with  bewitch- 
ing melody. 

The  king  stood  fascinated,  entranced ;  his  soul 
was  filled  with  a  new  ecstasy ;  would  that  he  could 
induce  the  bird  to  sing  forevermore!  He  would 
have  remained  in  the  palace  grounds  listening  the 
livelong  night,  but  after  a  while  the  nightingale 
seemed  to  grow  weary  from  its  efforts  and  its  song 
ceased.  The  king  was  in  despair,  but  after  a  few 
minutes'  rest  the  bird  resumed  its  song  for  a  short 
space,  and  then  it  stopped,  nor  would  it  be  induced 
to  sing  any  more.  After  waiting  and  waiting  in 
vain  for  more  of  this  enchanting  music,  and  at 
last,  becoming  convinced  that  the  songster  had 
possibly  flown  away  or  fallen  asleep  from  over- 
exertion,  the  king  unwillingly  left  the  palace 
grounds  and  sought  his  royal  couch. 

The  next  evening,  at  the  same  hour,  his  Maj- 
esty was  in  the  grounds  again,  anxiously  waiting 
and  listening  for  the  bird  to  commence  a  repeti- 
tion of  its  previous  night's  serenade,  but  he  was 
doomed  to  disappointment,  for  the  nightingale 
was  silent  and  refused  to  sing  again. 

The  third  night  he  was  more  fortunate.  The 
nightingale  warbled  sweeter,  louder,  and  longer 
than  ever,  and  the  king  was  full  of  rapture  once 
more.  Then  for  three  nights  it  failed  to  be  heard, 
and  it  was  thought  that  the  bird  must  have  died  or 
else  flown  away  to  warmer  skies.  The  king  was 


THE    KING    IN    A    RAGE.  l6l 

in  despair  and  offered  heavy  rewards  for  its  return, 
but  the  most  diligent  search  by  the  king's  house- 
hold failed  in  getting  any  tidings  of  the  midnight 
warbler.  On  the  seventh  night  the  tiny  minstrel 
returned,  and  from  some  shrubbery  in  a  lone- 
some nook  in  the  grounds  its  flute-like  notes  were 
heard  echoing  through  the  moonlight  and  giving 
joy  to  the  king,  who  was  an  enchanted  listener. 
For  two  or  three  nights  more  it  came  and  contin- 
ued its  songs,  at  each  time  changing  its  locality 
in  the  palace  grounds  whence  it  sang.  Then  it 
ceased  to  come  again,  though  the  king  waited 
long  and  anxiously  for  its  songs  for  many  nights 
after. 

And  then  in  some  mysterious  manner  it  came 
to  the  king's  ears  that  he  had  been  imposed  upon  ; 
that  the  nightingale  which  had  sung  to  him  so 
sweetly,  and  which  had  given  him  so  much  de- 
light for  so  many  moonlight  evenings,  was  a  night- 
ingale six  feet  high,  wearing  a  spiked  military  hat 
and  a  soldier's  uniform.  Of  course  the  king  was 
mad,  very  mad,  and  there  was  a  big  thunder- 
storm, or  a  tornado,  or  an  earthquake,  or  an  Alpine 
avalanche  in  the  royal  household  when  the  king's 
wrath  burst  forth.  The  day  after  the  denouement 
the  soldier  nightingale  was  dieting  on  bread  and 
water  in  a  prison-cell. 


11 


CHAPTER   XV. 

GLIMPSES  OF  LIFE  IN  BAVARIA  — A  VISIT  TO  HOHENLINDEN. 
—  •'  ON  LINDEN  WHEN  THE  SUN  WAS  LOW." —  BEHIND  THE 
SCENES  AT  OBERAMMERGAU.  —  EVERY-DAY  LIFE  OF  THE 
ACTORS  IN  THE  PASSION  PLAY.  —  How  THE  REVENUES  OF 
THE  BAVARIAN  KINGDOM  ARE  OBTAINED.  —  THE  CEME 
TERY  AT  MUNICH. 

TWENTY  miles  east  of  Munich,  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  Iser,  in  Upper  Bavaria,  is  the 
small  German  village  of  Hohenlinden,  celebrated 
in  history  for  the  memorable  battle  that  was  fought 
there  in  December,  1800,  between  the  Austrian 
army  under  Archduke  John,  and  the  French  under 
Gen.  Moreau,  assisted  by  Marshal  Ney.  In  this 
hard-fought  battle  and  during  their  disastrous  re- 
treat the  Austrians  lost  8,000  killed  and  wounded 
and  10,000  prisoners,  while  the  French  loss  was 
never  reported. 

The  battle-ground  is  still  a  place  of  great  inter- 
est, and  many  tourists  turn  out  of  their  beaten  path 
every  year  to  visit  the  place  where  the  Austrians 
suffered  such  an  overwhelming  defeat.  Campbell's 
short  poem,  which  years  ago  was  included  in  all 
the  school  readers,  beginning  with,  — 

"  On  Linden  when  the  sun  was  low 

All  bloodless  lay  the  untrodden  snow, 
And  dark  as  winter  was  the  flow 
Of  Iser  rolling  rapidly," 


RIVER    ISER. OBERAMMERGAU.  163 

is  undoubtedly  familiar  to  most  of  our  older  read- 
ers, though  few  of  them  perhaps  have  any  geo- 
graphical knowledge  or  idea  as  to  where  Hohen- 
linden  is,  or  of  what  country  it  forms  such  an  in- 
finitesimal part. 

The  river  Iser,  which  the  poet  speaks  of  as  "  roll- 
ing rapidly,"  is  about  two  hundred  miles  long,  and 
rises  in  the  Tyrol  Mountains, and  like  an  Alpine  tor- 
rent it  comes  pouring  and  tumbling  down  through 
the  Bavarian  Alps,  through  villages,  valleys,  and 
mountain  passes,  through  Hohenlinden,  through 
the  centre  of  the  city  of  Munich,  and  on  and  on 
until  its  turbid,  angry  waters  are  lost  in  the  "  Blue 
Danube."  One  of  the  most  fascinating  sights  of 

o        o 

Munich  is  to  stand  on  the  old  bridge  that  spans 
this  river  at  the  end  of  Maximilianstrasse,  and 
watch  the  boiling,  foaming  waters  as  they  go  rush- 
ing by  underneath. 

But  a  few  hours'  ride  from  Munich  in  the  Bava- 
rian Alps  is  the  small,  insignificant  mountain  vil- 
lage of  Oberammergau,  which  has  gained  such  a 
world-wide  notoriety  as  being  the  place  where  the 
famous  Passion  Play  is  produced  every  ten  years. 
An  American  gentleman,  who  became  infatuated 
with  the  play,  having  witnessed  it  in  1870  and  also 
the  past  year,  was  giving  me  an  account  of  his 
revisiting  the  village  a  month  or  two  after  the 
conclusion  of  the  last  performances.  He  said  he 
wished  to  refresh  his  memory  and  gratify  an  inno- 
cent curiosity  by  "going  behind  the  scenes,"  so  to 


164  CHARACTERS    IN    THE   PASSION    PLAY. 

speak,  to  see  the  actors  in  this  great  drama,  in  their 
every-day  life, —  to  see  how  they  looked,  how  they 
lived,  and  how  they  appeared  off  the  stage,  to  see 
what  manner  of  people  they  were  that  had  made 
such  an  impression  upon  him,  and  on  the  world. 

The  woman  who  took  the  character  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary  he  traced  into  the  fields,  where  he  found 
her  bareheaded,  her  hair  dishevelled,  and  busy  at 
work  digging  potatoes.  She  was  barefooted  and 
bare-legged,  and  her  dress,  which  was  anything  but 
picturesque  in  its  rags  and  filth,  reaching  only  to 
her  knees. 

Mary  Magdalene  he  found  in  a  wretched  little 
compartment  on  her  hands  and  knees  scrubbing 
the  floor  with  soap  and  water.  Her  feet  were  also 
without  shoes  or  stockings,  and  her  long  black 
hair  was  falling  in  wild  disorder  over  her  neck  and 
shoulders. 

Christ,  whose  occupation  was  that  of  a  wood- 
carver,  was  busy  at  work  in  his  little  shop  carving 
some  ornaments  which  had  been  ordered  by  visit- 
ors to  the  late  Passion  Play  as  souvenirs  of  his 
handiwork.  His  long,  black,  uncut  locks,  which 
were  still  parted  in  the  middle,  had  evidently  not 
received  much  attention  at  his  morning's  toilet; 
neither  had  his  face  that  divine  expression,  or  the 
mild,  compassionate  look,  which  characterized  it 
when  he  was  personifying  the  Saviour  in  the  play. 
A  mug  half  full  of  beer  was  on  a  rough  bench 
within  his  reach,  and,  as  his  chisel  was  nimbly  tra- 


KING    HEROD,    PONTIUS    PILATE,    ST.  JOHN,    ETC.      l6> 

cinsj  and  forming  the  intricate  and  delicate  designs 

c_*  c?  ^5 

on  the  piece  of  wood  before  him,  he  was  at  the 
same  time  vigorously  puffing  a  huge  German  pipe 
that  hung  down  over  the  red  shirt  that  covered 
his  bosom. 

Herod,  king  of  Judeea,  was  keeping  a  little  gast 
haus  or  village  inn,  and  report  said  he  had  laid  by 
a  snug  little  sum  from  the  money  paid  him  by  his 
guests  at  the  time  of  the  Passion  Play.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  he  had  not  retired  on  his  laurels  or  his 
wealth,  but,  having  cast  aside  his  gorgeous  golden 
crown  and  his  kingly  robes  of  velvet  and  ermine, 
had  stripped  off  his  coat,  rolled  up  his  shirt-sleeves, 
and  was  busy  at  work  behind  his  bar,  filling  beer- 
mugs  for  his  thirsty  customers. 

Nicodemus,  Pontius  Pilate,  Judas  Iscariot,  St. 
John,  St.  Peter,  St.  Matthew,  Barabbas,  and  two 
or  three  of  the  centurions  were  found  in  a  beer- 
shop  making  merry  over  their  beer-mugs.  They 
were  in  an  earnest,  animated  discussion  as  to  the 
renderings  of  some  parts  of  the  Passion  Play,  there 
evidently  being  a  division  of  opinion  as  to  how 
certain  parts  should  be  acted  with  the  greatest 
effect. 

John,  the  "beloved  disciple,"  and  Judas,  who 
from  appearances  had  "  taken  to  much,"  were  in 
a  half-maudlin  state  and  were  enjoying  themselves 
by  singing  or  attempting  to  sing  snatches  from 
some  of  the  choruses  in  the  Passion  Play,  with 
which  they  seemed  to  be  familiar.  Caiphas,  the 


1 66  BAVARIAN    CITIES. 

High  Priest,  who  shone  so  resplendent  in  his  cos- 
tume of  silver  and  gold,  and  who  had  on  the  stage 
the  dignified  manners  and  haughty  bearing  of  a 
Roman  emperor,  after  diligent  search  was  discov- 
ered in  a  slouch  hat,  and  looking  like  a  seedy 
brigand,  coming  in  from  the  fields  outside  of  the 

O  O 

village  mounted  on  top  of  a  load  of  turnips,  which 
was  being  drawn  by  a  sorry-looking  cow  in  harness. 
Inquiring  for  the  two  malefactors  who  acted  their 
parts  so  splendidly  in  the  scene  of  the  crucifixion, 
he  was  told  that  at  the  time  they  were  attending 
mass  in  the  little  village  church,  near  by. 

Our  visitor  from  the  outside  world  said  he  was 
sorry  that  his  curiosity  had  taken  him  back  to 
Oberammergau ;  that  the  vivid,  almost  holy  im- 
pressions which  the  wonderful  play  had  made  upon 
him  had  been  dispelled  by  going  behind  the  scenes 
and  seeing  the  poor,  uneducated  peasant  actors 
after  taking  off  their  costumes  and  returning  to 

o  o 

every-day  life.  He  was  emphatic  in  his  opinion 
that  he  should  not  witness  the  play  in  1890. 

There  are  many  old  cities  and  towns  in  Bavaria 
of  great  historical  as  well  as  local  interest,  such  as 
Nuremberg,  Augsburg,  Ratisbon,  Bamberg,  Ingol- 
stadt,  and  Hanau.  It  was  at  the  latter  town  in  1813 
that  the  French  army  under  Napoleon  defeated  the 
combined  forces  of  Bavarians,  Austrians,  and  Rus- 
sians of  40,000  under  Wrede.  The  kingdom  of  Ba- 
varia, with  the  exception  of  Prussia,  is  the  largest 
in  extent  and  population  of  any  of  the  kingdoms, 


FINANCIAL    RESOURCES    OF    BAVARIA.  167 

duchies,  or  principalities  that  form  the  German 
Confederation.  In  area  it  covers  28,435  square 
miles ;  being  a  little  more  than  half  the  size  of 
New  York  State,  which  has  46,000.  Its  popula- 
tion, according  to  the  census  of  1880,  was  5,271,516, 
which  is  about  one  eighth  of  the  population  of  the 
Empire,  and  not  far  from  that  of  New  York  State. 

Some  of  the  items  as  published  in  the  annual 
budget  of  the  kingdom's  receipts  and  expenses  for 
the  past  year  must  be  of  interest  to  many,  espe- 
cially to  those  who  make  the  financial  records  of 
different  countries  and  governments  a  study.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  in  Bavaria,  as  well  as  in 
all  Germany,  labor  of  all  kinds  does  not  cost  over 
a  third  or  a  half  what  it  does  in  the  United  States, 
and  it  also  must  be  remembered  that,  with  an 
occasional  exception,  all  the  railways,  all  the  tele- 
graph lines,  express  companies,  gas  manufactories, 
coal  and  iron  mines,  aqueducts  for  supplying 
cities  and  towns  with  water,  and  many  of  the  most 
profitable  manufacturing  works  throughout  all 
Germany,  are  built  by  the  government,  belong  to 
the  government,  and  are  run  and  worked  by  the 
government  and  for  its  interest.  It  is  from  the 
enormous  profits  derived  from  these  various  re- 
sources that  the  government  is  enabled  to  keep  up 
its  magnificent  standing  army  of  half  a  million  of 
men,  and  its  various  national  improvements,  ex- 
penses, etc.,  which  it  is  called  upon  to  pay. 

There  are  but  few  bourses  or  stock  exchanges 


168  REVENUES    OF    THE    KINGDOM. 

in  the  country  where  stocks  of  any  kind  are 
bought  or  sold,  and  consequently  the  people  are 
not  continually  being  led  into  the  temptation  of 
robbing  banks  and  trust  institutions,  thereby 
ruining  thousands  of  people  to  gratify  the  mania 
of  mad  speculation. 

I  find  that  the  whole  income  of  Bavaria  from 
various  sources  for  the  year  1880  amounted  to 
221,741,445  marks,  or  about  $55,435,381.  Of  this 
amount  — 

$20,789,408  —  gross  income  of  railways  in  Bavaria. 
10,537,152  —  malt  duties,  custom,  duties,  etc. 
5,587,500  —  direct  taxes  on  houses,  lands,  etc. 
4,807,500  —  legacies,  fees,  fines,  etc. 
2,540,952 — post-office  department. 

306.732 — telegraph  lines. 
6,181,700  —  wood  sold  from  the  king's  forests. 

In  Bavaria,  as  in  Wiirtemberg  and  in  Baden, 
and,  I  believe,  all  over  Germany,  the  forests,  almost 
without  exception,  belong  to  the  crown,  and  every 
stick  sold  from  them  goes  to  replenish  the  king's 
treasury  for  personal  and  governmental  uses.  The 
smaller  amounts  which  make  up  the  sum  total  I  will 
not  enumerate.  The  various  sums  paid  out  by  the 
government  for  building,  running,  and  keeping  up 
railways,  telegraph  lines  for  the  postal  service,  in- 
terest on  the  public  debt  (which  is  $11,556,657), 
salary  of  the  king,  and  small  annuities  to  several 
members  of  the  royal  Bavarian  families  of  $1,336,- 
095,  amount  altogether  to  $33,085,357.  Add  to  this 
$22,351,024,  the  official  expenses  of  the  govern- 


BAVARIAN    BEER.  1 69 

ment  ior  collecting  taxes  and  revenues,  military 
assessment,  hospitals,  and  public  charities,  law 
courts,  and  government  schools,  etc. 

The  national  debt  of  Bavaria  is  1,259,834,207 
marks,  or  $314,958,552.  The  government  receives 
large  revenues,  as  it  will  be  seen,  from  taxes  imposed 
on  malt  and  the  beer  manufactured  in  the  king- 
dom. Bavarian  beer,  and  especially  Munich  beer, 
is  the  finest  in  Germany,  and  has  a  world-wide  rep- 
utation, as  well  as  a  world-wide  sale.  The  quan- 
tity that  is  manufactured  in  its  numberless  brew- 
eries is  something  enormous.  Statistics  show  that 
the  average  manufacture  amounts  to  about  135,- 
000,000  gallons  a  year,  which  would  make  4,500,- 
ooo  of  barrels  of  thirty  gallons  each.  To  place 
these  4,500,000  of  barrels  in  a  continuous  line,  and 
reckoning  three  feet  to  be  the  length  of  a  barrel, 
we  find  that  the  barrels  of  beer  would  extend  2,636 
miles,  about  the  entire  distance  of  the  Pacific  rail- 
road from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  or  nearly 
span  the  Atlantic  from  New  York  to  Liverpool. 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  mentioning 
my  visit  to  the  cemetery  at  Munich,  or  Gottsaker, 
as  it  is  called  in  Germany.  In  most  of  these  for- 
eign cities  the  burial  places  for  the  dead  are  usu- 
ally, by  their  quaintness,  or  by  the  enormous  sums 
of  money  spent  in  their  construction  and  adorn- 
ment, places  of  great  interest  to  foreigners.  The 
one  in  Munich  outside  of  the  Sendlingerthor,  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  city,  is  not  an  exception,  and 


I/O  THE    CEMETERY    AT    MUNICH. 

surpasses  all  other  burial  places  in  Germany  in 
the  artistic  taste  displayed  in  its  many  beautiful 
monuments,  arcades,  and  decorations. 

Many  of  Germany's  famous  sons  who  lived, 
worked,  and  died  in  Munich  are  buried  here, 
such  as  the  painters  Kaulbach  and  Schorn,  the 
inventor  of  lithography,  Senefelder,  the  architects 
Klenze  and  Gartner,  the  sculptor  Schwanthaler, 
Von  Liebig,  the  chemist,  and  a  long  list  of  distin- 
guished personages  whose  talents  and  labors  gave 
Munich  its  prestige  in  the  arts  and  sciences. 

An  annex  joining  the  cemetery,  and  which  is 
entered  from  it  by  a  covered  archway,  was  laid 
out  a  few  years  since  by  Gartner  in  the  Italian 
style,  and  somewhat  resembles  the  famous  Campo 
Santo  at  Pisa  It  is  about  seven  hundred  feet 
square,  and  its  four  sides  are  enclosed  by  an  arcade 
of  beautiful  architecture,  the  walls  of  which  are 
thirty-three  feet  high.  Under  this  noble  arcade 
is  a  continuous  line  of  elegant  tombs  and  monu- 
ments of  rare  workmanship,  which  have  been 
erected  in  memory  of  the  dead  who  sleep  in  the 
vaults  beneath. 

A  curious  circumstance  connected  with  the 
building  of  this  Campo  Santo  is  the  fact  that 
Gartner,  the  famous  architect  who  planned  it  and 
who  contributed  so  much  of  his  valuable  time  in 
superintending  the  building  of  its  arcades  and  the 
carrying  out  of  all  the  minor  details,  was  the  first 
to  be  buried  beneath  its  arches. 


BURIAL    OF    THE    DEAD. 


But  what  interested  me  and  attracted  my  atten- 
tention  most  was  a  large  room  or  hall  entered  from 
the  archway  that  leads  into  the  cemetery,  and 
used  for  depositing  the  dead  for  a  specified  time 
previous  to  burial.  In  this  gloomy-looking  apart- 
ment, which  resembles  somewhat  the  morgue  at 
Paris,  signalling  apparatuses  are  attached  to  the 
inanimate  bodies  to  give  warning  in  case  that  life 
should  not  be  extinct.  The  room  must  be  thirty 
or  forty  feet  square,  and,  as  it  was  partly  enclosed 
with  windows,  I  could  look  in  from  the  outside 
and  witness  the  strange  spectacle  within. 

It  was  indeed  a  charnel-house  of  death,  but  the 
many  forms  lying  there  so  peacefully  and  so 
quietly,  their  hands  crossed,  and  many  of  them 
with  wide-open  eyes,  did  not  look  as  if  they  were 
sleeping  their  long  sleep. 

Young  children  seemed  to  predominate,  —  chil- 
dren of  a  few  months  up  to  eight  and  ten  years 
of  age.  There  must  have  been  fifteen  or  twenty 
of  them.  They  were  lying  outside  of  their  cas- 
kets, on  soft  little  cushions  or  blankets  of  rich 
material,  and,  in  their  dainty  white  muslin  or  silk 
dresses,  trimmed  with  handsome  embroidered  edg- 
ings and  laces,  looked  as  if  they  had  been  to  a 
children's  dress-party,  and,  overcome  with  fatigue, 
had  fallen  asleep.  Several  were  in  reclining  posi- 
tions, propped  up  with  cushions,  with  wreaths  of 
handsome  artificial  or  real  flowers  placed  on  their 
heads,  and  little  bouquets  in  their  hands.  Two  or 


1/2  LITTLE    CHILDREN. 

three  were  so  covered  with  floral  decorations  they 
looked  as  if  they  were  sleeping  in  beds  of  flowers. 
Such  a  picture  seemed  to  rob  death  of  its  ter- 
rors. I  was  told  that  these  children  were  not 
placed  in  this  room  with  any  expectation  of  re- 
turning life ;  that  they  were  left  there  that  their 
fathers  and  mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  could 
visit  them  as  often  and  as  long  as  possible  before 
being  committed  to  mother  earth. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  HOFBRAUHAUS  AT  MUNICH.  — DAILY  SCENES  AT  THE 
ROYAL  BREWERY  WHERE  THIRSTY  BEER-DRINKERS  QUENCH 
THEIR  THIRST.  —  BEER-DRINKERS  FORMING  IN  LINE  WITH 
THEIR  BEER-MUGS  WAITING  TO  BE  SERVED.  —  THE  PRICE 
OF  BEER  DAILY  REGULATED  BY  QUOTATIONS  FROM  THE 
HOP  MARKET. 

BEFORE  coming  to  Munich  I  was  advised  by 
several  tourists  and  travellers  to  be  sure  and 
visit  the  Hofbrauhaus  or  royal  brewery,  as  it  was 
one  of  the  sights  of  the  city  which  should  not  be 
missed  or  overlooked.  So,  a  morning  or  two 
after  my  arrival,  I  inquired  of  the  proprietor  of 
the  hotel  where  I  was  stopping  where  this  cele- 
brated Hofbrauhaus,  which  I  understood  had 
been  famous  for  over  two  centuries,  was  to  be 
found. 

"  Go  down  the  Maximilianstrasse,"  he  said, 
"  until  you  arrive  at  the  Hotel  Vier  Jahreszeiten. 
In  front  of  this  hotel  you  will  see  a  narrow  street 
leading  in  an  opposite  direction  ;  turn  down  this 
street  and  join  the  throng  of  people  who  are 
going  after  their  beer,  and  you  will  be  sure  to  bring 
up  at  the  Hoibrauhaus." 

I  found  the  locality  without  any  difficulty,  and 
I  found  the  crowd  of  people  which  was  pouring  in 
a  steady  stream  down  the  narrow  thoroughfare, 


1/4  THE    HOFBRAUREI    AT    MUNICH. 

so  I  joined  in  the  procession  of  beer  pilgrims,, 
and  hastened  on  with  them  to  their  destination. 

The  farther  I  proceeded  the  larger  the  crowd 
became.  Side  and  cross  streets  were  adding  fresh 
recruits  of  stout,  lusty  Germans  of  all  classes,  some 
in  shirt-sleeves  and  coarse  blouses,  officers  high  in 
rank,  subalterns  and  privates  in  uniform,  and 
others  in  black  broadcloths  and  black  beavers,  were 
all  hastening  in  one  direction.  It  happened  to  be 
just  midday,  when  shop-keepers  and  mechanics 
had  started  on  their  noonings. 

The  locality  was  anything  but  fashionable  or 
inviting;  the  buildings  were  old  and  clumsy,  and 
the  narrow  street  full  of  bad  odors  from  its  open 
gutters  and  sewers. 

I  needed  no  one  to  tell  me  when  I  arrived  at 
Hofbraurei.  An  immense,  long,  low  building,  look- 
ing like  an  old  prison,  or  one  of  the  infantry  bar- 
racks, or  stables  built  for  the  king's  horses  in 
ancient  times,  which  we  often  see  in  this  country, 
was  before  me. 

One  end  of  the  building,  a  wing  evidently,  reach- 
ing far  to  the  rear,  was  of  an  extra  height,  with  an 
open  wooden  roof,  from  which  were  escaping  clouds 
of  steam  and  smoke  that  were  impregnating  the 
air  of  the  whole  neighborhood  with  a  strong  aroma 
of  hops  and  malt  in  process  of  boiling  and  fermen- 
tation. 

A  long  line  of  droskies  and  carriages,  which  had 
brought  customers  to  drink  the  famous  beer,  stood 


BEER    PILGRIMS.  175 

in  front  of  the  building  far  up  and  down  the  street, 
every  driver,  as  far  as  I  could  observe,  with  a  large 
white  earthen  mug  of  beer  in  his  hand,  with  which 
he  was  beguiling  the  waiting  moments.  Many  of 
the  carriages  had  two,  three,  and  four  occupants, 
who  were  also  drinking  the  favorite  beverage  from 
the  same  peculiar  white  earthen  mugs.  Evidently 
they  were  not  able  to  find  sitting  or  standing  ac- 
commodations to  drink  their  beer  within  the  build- 
ing. 

Turning  from  the  sidewalk,  the  procession  which 
I  had  joined  entered  a  long,  open  court  through 
an  arched  doorway.  This  court,  which  must  be 
nearly  two  hundred  feet  long  and  seventy  or 
eighty  feet  wide,  was  full  of  broad-shouldered  Ger- 
mans standing  in  groups  or  singly,  some  seated  on 
the  ends  of  empty  beer-casks,  some  leaning  back 
against  the  stone  walls  of  the  buildings  for  sup- 
port, and  occasionally  a  fat  Teuton,  whose  legs 
had  become  weak  with  the  excessive  load  they  had 
to  carry,  was  squatted  down  on  the  cobble-stone 
pavement ;  but  I  noticed  that  every  man  in  the 
court  was  grasping  one  of  the  inevitable  white  beer- 
mugs,  or  had  one  within  his  reach  from  which 
he  was  taking  long  and  frequent  draughts  of  the 
extract  of  hops. 

The  scene,  the  crowd,  the  babel  of  tongues,  re- 
minded me  of  an  English  hustings  or  an  election 
day  in  America.  But  this  was  only  the  outside 
show,  a  mere  prelude  to  the  interior  performance. 


1/6  A    BUSY    ESTABLISHMENT. 

The  men  in  the  court  were  only  those  who  could 
not  find  a  seat  or  standing-places  to  drink  their 
beer  within  the  building.  As  soon  as  I  could,  I 
passed  through  the  doorway,  which,  from  appear- 
ances, was  the  main  entrance  from  the  court  to  the 
celebrated  beer-halls  within.  Through  this  door 
I  had  noticed  a  continuous  stream  of  customers 
passing  in  empty-handed  or  with  empty  beer-mugs, 
and  coming  out  with  them  overflowing.  The  first 
room  I  entered  was  where  the  beer  was  being 
served.  With  its  low,  arched  ceiling,  black  with 
age,  its  dim  light  from  two  small  windows,  and 
its  floor  of  clay,  it  reminded  me  of  a  basement 
hall  in  some  deserted  castle. 

Behind  a  rough  counter  six  men  in  shirt-sleeves 
were  plying  every  nerve  in  filling  from  six  beer 
barrels,  perched  on  plank  staging  in  the  rear,  the 
beer-mugs  which  were  being  rapidly  passed  them. 
Under  one  of  the  low  windows  was  a  large  stone 
water-tank,  supplied  with  two  streams  of  running 
water,  around  which  new-comers  were  crowding 
and  washing  out  the  mugs  which  they  had  been 
fortunate  enough  to  find  not  in  use.  Every  beer- 
drinker  must  look  out  for  himself,  and  attend  to 
his  own  wants  in  being  served.  He  must  hunt 
around  and  find  an  empty  beer-mug,  or  wait  the 
first  opportunity  to  seize  the  mug  of  some  depart- 
ing customer.  As  soon  as  procured,  he  proceeds 
to  give  it  a  thorough  rinsing  in  the  tank,  and  with 
it  falls  in  line  of  the  beer  procession,  which  is 


THIRSTY    CUSTOMERS    FORMING    IN    LINE.  177 

quickly  moving  along  and  passing  single  file  in 
front  of  the  beer-counter. 

The  beer-mugs  are  identified  with  the  establish- 
ment by  their  peculiar  shape,  size,  and  color,  and 
are  to  be  found  nowhere  else  in  Germany.  They 
hold  a  litre  each,  a  little  over  a  quart,  are  made  of 
a  light  brown  clay  with  metallic  covers,  on  which 
are  the  monograms  of  "  H.  B.,"  for  Hof  Braurei. 
I  noticed  that  there  were  but  very  few  half-size 
mugs  in  use,  as  every  man,  evidently,  was  expected 
or  preferred  to  take  full  measure. 

At  the  head  of  the  beer-counter  stood  the  cashier, 
whose  whole  attention  was  absorbed  in  receiving 
pay  of  the  customers  as  they  filed  past  in  rapid 
succession.  There  was  no  inquiring  the  price; 
every  one  seemed  to  be  familiar  with  the  amount 
he  was  to  pay,  and  for  those  who  had  any  doubts 
or  were  in  complete  ignorance  the  price  of  "  26 
pfennigs "  —  about  six  cents  per  mug  —  was 
chalked  in  plain  characters  on  a  piece  of  board 
over  the  cashier's  head.  I  was  told  the  price  of 
beer  varied  according  to  the  quotations  of  the  hop 
market,  and  that  sometimes  it  was  sold  at  as  low 
as  sixteen,  eighteen,  and  twenty  pfennigs  a  mug. 
Near  at  hand  was  a  man  whose  sole  occupation 
was  to  receive  the  mugs  from  those  who  had  paid 
and  pass  them  rapidly  back  to  be  filled.  The  cash- 
ier was  having  a  busy  time,  and  I  never  saw  a  man 
work  more  lively.  Several  hands  were  stretched 

toward  him    all  the  while  with  silver  and  copper 
12 


QUICK    WORK,    NO    HESITATING. 

of  different  values,  which  he  was  examining,  count- 
ing, and  changing  with  wonderful  celerity. 

There  was  no  confusion,  no  hesitation,  no  wrang- 
ling or  disputes  ;  the  line  of  beer-drinkers  was 
moving  along  like  clock-work,  and  without  a  break. 
The  scene,  which  was  so  odd  and  peculiar  and  so 
entirely  new  to  me  as  a  stranger  that  I  must  admit 
that  there  was  a  certain  fascination  in  standing  by 
and  watching  the  procession,  which  reminded  me 
of  a  box-office  at  some  theatre  or  opera-house, 
where  there  was  a  rush  for  tickets  to  see  a  favor- 
ite actor  or  prima  donna.  An  iron  railing  separa- 
ted the  crowd  outside  from  pressing  against  the 
line  as  it  passed  by  the  cashier  and  beer-counter. 
As  I  entered  the  room  there  must  have  been  at 
least  one  hundred  men  in  the  line,  and  half  as 
many  more  waiting  for  a  chance  to  fall  in. 

Every  man  had  an  empty  beer-mug  in  his  hand, 
and  those  who  had  advanced  near  the  cashier  had 
many  of  them  two,  three,  and  four  mugs  each, 
which  they  were  kindly  taking  along  to  be  filled 
for  those  who  had  not  the  time  or  patience  to  go 
through  the  tunnel. 

It  was  a  novel  sight  to  watch  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  men  filled  the  mu^s  from  the  barrels. 

O 

Long  practice  had  made  them  experts  at  the  busi- 
ness, and  I  was  told  that  they  could  fill  on  an  aver- 
age six  of  the  beer-mugs  a  minute.  The  streams  of 
beer  which  were  rushing  through  the  large  faucets 
of  the  barrels  appeared  never  to  be  shut  off.  The 


A    MFFEREXT    CLASS    OF    CUSTOMERS  1 79 

men  would  grasp  with  one  hand  from  the  counter 
three,  four,  and  often  as  many  as  six  mugs  by  the 
handles,  at  the  same  time,  which  they  would  clap 
under  the  running  stream  and  fill  them  in  a 
twinkling,  and  then  pass  them  back  to  the  thirsty 
customers. 

There  was  no  cessation,  no  waiting,  in  this  part 
of  the  business.  As  soon  as  a  barrel  became 
empty,  and  a  full  one  was  not  over  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  in  being  exhausted,  it  was  pushed 
aside,  and  presto  !  change !  a  fresh  barrel  takes 
its  place  as  if  by  magic.  Two  or  three  sharp  raps 
from  a  mallet  drives  the  faucet  home,  and  quicker 
than  I  can  write  the  words  the  barrel  is  on  tap, 
and  the  fresh  beer  is  flowing  into  mugs  and  dis- 
appearing over  the  counter. 

There  was  an  extra  side  counter  in  the  room 
for  serving  customers  of  a  different  class  from 
those  I  have  been  describing,  and  this  was  for 
the  accommodation  of  boys  and  girls,  maids  and 
women  servants,  who  were  sent  in  from  boarding- 
houses  and  families  living  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  who  could  not  be  expected  to  get  their  beer 
by  joining  the  line  of  men.  A  continuous  line  of 
these  were  coming  and  going,  bringing  their  own 
mugs  or  glasses  and  often  large-sized  pitchers 
and  flagons  to  be  filled.  Little  boys  and  girls 
of  six  and  eight  years  of  age  were  tugging  away 
wicker  baskets,  holding  from  six  to  a  dozen  mugs 
of  beer  each. 


I SO  THE    BEER    HALL. 

Opening  out  of  this  beer-room,  where  the  beer 
was  being  served,  was  an  arched  doorway  leading 
into  a  large  hall,  or  rather  a  succession  of  two  or 
three  halls  opening  one  into  another.  Like  the  first 
room  I  entered,  these  were  also  dark  and  gloomy, 
and  the  walls  black  with  smoke  and  age.  They 
seemed  more  fit  for  prison  rooms  than  anything 
else.  The  arched  ceilings  were  low,  and  but  little 
light  found  its  way  through  the  small,  old-fash- 
ioned, smoke-begrimed  windows.  It  was  here  the 
patrons  of  the  Hofbrauhaus  were  in  the  habit  of 
consfre^atinor  to  drink  their  beer,  and  find  un- 

o      o  o 

occupied  seats,  if  they  could,  which  was  usually 
a  difficult  thing  to  do. 

The  whole  space  was  literally  packed  with  beer- 
drinkers,  and  there  was  scarcely  room  for  a  person 
to  squeeze  through  or  move  about.  Long,  narrow 
tables  of  oak  plank  served  as  rests  for  the  beer- 
mugs,  and  rustic  plank  benches  were  all  the  pa- 
trons had  to  sit  upon  while  drinking  their  beer. 
Seats  and  tables  were  as  thick  as  they  could  be 
placed,  and  the  beer-drinkers  packed  in  like  sar. 
dines.  Every  man  had  one  of  the  litre  beer-mugs 
on  the  table  in  front  of  him  or  in  transit  to  or  from 
his  mouth.  Every  man,  too,  I  judged,  was  smok- 
ing a  German  pipe  or  cigar,  for  the  place  was  so 
full  of  smoke  I  could  scarcely  see  across  the  hall. 

And  such  a  jargon  of  strange  noises,  such  a 
babel  of  confused  tongues,  I  never  heard  before. 
There  must  have  been  several  hundred  persons 


I'ANDEMONIUM.  l8l 

present,  every  one  of  whom  was  hoMing  an  ani- 
mated conversation  with  his  nearest  neighbor  in 
the  sweet  and  musical  dialect  of  the  country,  and 
every  one  was  endeavoring  to  speak  loud  enough 
to  be  heard  over  the  din  and  racket  that  prevailed. 
The  place  was  like  pandemonium.  Several  old 
men,  and  two  or  three  women,  ugly  enough  to  be 
the  veritable  witches  of  Macbeth,  were  crowding 
and  pushing  their  way  about  with  baskets  on  their 
arms,  some  of  them  selling  raw  turnips  sprinkled 
with  salt,  to  sharpen  the  beer  appetites  of  the 
drinkers,  and  others  disposing  of  hard-boiled  eggs, 
slices  of  black  bread  seasoned  with  anise-seed,  and 
raw  sausages  to  those  who  did  not  wish  to  drink 
beer  too  heavily  on  empty  stomachs. 

People  were  coming  in  and  going  out  of  the  hall 
all  the  time.  Those  with  their  mugs  filled  were 
in  search  of  vacant  seats  at  the  tables,  which  it 
was  seldom  they  were  fortunate  enough  to  find. 
If  a  man  got  up  to  leave  there  was  a  scramble  for 
the  vacancy.  Many  who  would  get  out  of  patience 
watching  and  waiting  would  eventually  disappear 
with  their  beer-mugs  to  the  open  court  without. 
There  were  no  waiters  to  replenish  the  mugs  when 
they  became  empty.  Every  one  must  look  out  for 
himself/  When  a  man  had  finished  his  litre  and 
wished  an  encore — which  was  surely  to  hap- 
pen with  many  repetitions  —  he  catches  up  his 
mug  and  rushes  out  to  fall  in  line  to  have  it 
refilled. 


1 82     KO  QUARRELLING:  MIRTH  AND  JOLLITY  PREVAIL. 

I  must  have  stayed  in  the  ha1!  watching  this 
strange  scene  with  the  greatest  of  interest  for 
nearly  an  hour.  During  that  time  my  eye  was 
upon  a  broad-shouldered  man  with  a  face  like  the 
giant  in  the  fairy  tale,  whom  I  saw  replenish  his 
mug  four  times.  How  many  times  he  had  emptied 
it  previous  to  my  arrival,  and  how  many  times  after 
my  departure,  I  know  not.  But  what  would  be 
strange  and  unheard  of  in  any  other  country,  amidst 
all  of  this  beer-guzzling  there  was  no  drunkenness, 
no  quarrelling,  no  angry  disputes,  no  fighting,  no 
display  of  angry  passions.  Every  man  appeared 
to  be  perfectly  happy,  jolly,  and  contented,  in  fact, 
boiling  over  with  mirth  and  good-humor,  so  much 
so  that  in  several  instances  I  saw  them  fall  to  hug- 
ging and  kissing  each  other  like  so  many  overgrown 
school-girls. 

I  did  not  see  a  sick  or  consumptive-looking  man, 
or  one  thin  and  spare  ;  neither  did  I  observe  a  man 
with  a  careworn,  anxious  face,  looking  as  if  he  had 
notes  coming  due  on  the  morrow  which  were  un- 
provided for,  and  his  family  in  danger  of  starvation 
or  the  poorhouse.  And  they  wrere  such  heavy- 
looking  men,  every  one,  —  stout  and  broad-shoul- 
dered as  young  giants. 

When  I  at  last  left  the  hall  and  emerged  into 

O 

the  open  court  I  found  the  rain  falling,  but  the 
crowd  of  people,  I  noticed,  was  still  coming  and  few 
appeared  to  be  leaving.  Those  who  could  not 
crowd  under  a  long,  open  shed  that  flanked  one 


AX    EVEKV-OAV   OCCURRENCE.  183 

of  the  buildings  for  shelter  were  holding  umbrellas 
over  their  heads  with  one  hand  and  grasping  beer- 
mu^s  with  the  other.  The  scene  I  was  looking 

<-»  o 

upon  was  an  every-day  affair,  which  was  kept  up 
from  morning  until  late  at  night.  Although  the 

o  o  o 

crowd  of  people  present  appeared  to  me  so  large, 
yet  I  was  told  that  it  was  not  an  average  day, 
that  the  weather  was  bad,  that  the  prospect  of  rain 
during  the  forenoon,  and  the  rain  which  was  then 
falling,  would  keep  hundreds  away,  and  that  if  I 
wished  to  see  a  genuine  crowd,  a  rush,  a  jam,  I 
must  be  there  on  a  warm,  sunshiny  day  when  the 
people  were  really  thirsty,  or  on  a  Sunday,  or  on 
a  fete  day,  or  on  one  of  the  many  holidays  which 
were  constantly  occurring. 

The  beer  which  is  such  a  favorite  with  the 
Munich  people,  and  which  draws  such  crowds  of 
customers,  is  made  on  the  premises  where  it  is 
drunk,  and  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  best 
beer  in  this  famous  beer-drinking  city.  But  there 
are  hundreds  of  other  breweries  and  beer-shops  in 
Munich,  many  of  which  are  nearly  if  not  as  large 
or  larger  than  this,  and  which  have  their  favorite 
customers  like  the  Hofbraurei ;  but  the  latter  is 
popular  because  of  its  great  age  and  notoriety,  and 
the  cheapness  of  its  beer,  for  six  cents  a  quart  at 
retail,  and  often  at  four  and  five  cents,  even  in 
Germany,  is  considered  a  low  price.  A  man  may 
drink  four  or  five  gallons  a  day  of  it  and  not  cost 
as  much  as  four  or  five  drinks  at  a  fashionable 


184  CHEAPNESS    OF    THE    BEER. 

bar  in  a  New  York  hotel.  The  property  is  said 
to  belong  to  the  king  of  Bavaria,  and,  if  so,  its 
enormous  profits  must  help  swell  the  amount  of 
his  already  enormous  income. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  NATIONAL  DRINK  OF  GERMANY.  —  SOME  STATISTICS  OF 
THE  ENORMOUS  AMOUNT  OF  BEER  MADE  AND  DRANK  IN 
THE  KINGDOM  OF  WURTEMBERG.— AND  YET  BAVARIA  TAKES 
THE  LEAD  IN  BOTH.  —  EXTRAORDINARY  FEATS  OF  BEER 
DRINKING. —  BEER  DUELS  OF  UNIVERSITY  STUDENTS. 

THE  little  kingdom  of  Wiirtemberg  has  about 
1,900,000  inhabitants,  and  is  not  so  large  as 
the  State  of  Massachusetts  by  three  hundred 
square  miles ;  yet  I  find  that  the  published  records 
show  that  there  were  7,398  breweries,  large  and 
small,  in  active  operation  within  the  kingdom 
during  the  past  year,  and  in  the  twelve  months 
135,179,900  pounds  of  malt  were  brewed. 

One  of  the  great  and  important  industries  of 
Germany  is  the  manufacture  of  beet  sugar,  and 
two  years  ago  the  government  returns  showed 
that  there  were  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
manufactories  engaged  in  this  enterprise.  If  there 
are  7,398  breweries  in  Wiirtemberg,  what  must  be 
the  number  in  the  whole  empire  and  what  must 
be  the  vast  amount  of  capital  and  labor  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  beer  as  compared  with  the 
manufacture  of  sugar !  In  Wiirtemberg  there 
are  19,280  beer-shops  or  places  where  beer  is  sold 
by  the  glass.  This  would  make  on  an  average  a 
beer-shop  for  about  every  one  hundred  of  the  in- 


1 86  A    THIRSTY    COUNTRY. 

habitants,  man,  woman,  and  child,  including  babies 
of  the  tenderest  age. 

The  different  towns  and  cities  show  a  variety 
of  figures  in  making  up  this  general  average,  some 
going  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  twenty  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty,  and  others  falling  short  of  one 
hundred.  In  Cannstadt,  for  instance,  a  suburb  of 
of  Stuttgart  of  25,000  inhabitants,  there  is  a  beer 
shop  for  every  eighty-four  people.  Wiirtemberg 
is  not  noted  for  the  good  quality  of  its  beer,  which 
is  considered  of  an  inferior  class,  and  it  may  reason- 
ably be  presumed  that  a  very  small  percentage  of 
it  is  sold  outside  the  borders  of  the  kingdom.  On 
the  contrary,  the  Bavarian  beers  —  the  beer  made 
at  Munich,  at  Nuremberg  and  Bamberg,  at  Pil- 
sener  in  Austria,  and  in  some  parts  of  Prussia, 
which  have  a  high  reputation  —  are  in  great 
demand,  and  are  imported  into  Wiirtemberg  in 
immense  quantities,  where  they  are  drunk  almost 
exclusively  at  nearly  all  the  better  class  beer- 
shops. 

When  we  consider  the  fact  that  all,  or  nearly  all 
of  the  beer  made  in  Wurtemberg  is  consumed  by 
the  Wlirtembergers,  together  with  the  vast  impor- 
tations from  outside  of  the  kingdom,  we  bcsnn  to 

O  O 

realize  the  fact  that  the  Germans,  judging  by  the 
example  of  the  Wiirtembergers,  love  beer  and 
drink  a  great  deal  of  it,  By  the  statistics,  I  see 
that  last  year  one  brewery  in  Stuttgart  manufac- 
tured 880,380  gallons  of  beer,  which  would  make 


REMARKABLE    FEATS    OF    BEER-DRINKING.  187 

29,366  barrels  of  thirty  gallons  each.  And  yet  I 
am  told  by  the  Germans  that  if  I  wish  to  see  real 
beer-drinking  I  must  go  to  Bavaria;  that  the 
Bavarians  are  noted  for  their  love  of  beer  and  for 
the  great  quantities  that  they  manufacture  and 
consume. 

The  accounts  that  one  constantly  hears  of  re- 
markable feats  in  beer-drinking  seem  many  of 
them  incredible.  Old  men  and  young,  while  gath- 
ered around  the  social  beer-table,  relate  their 
experience  and  the  quantity  of  beer  they  have 
swallowed  at  one  sitting,  or  in  one  day,  or  in  one 
evening,  with  as  much  pride  as  an  old  hunter 
would  rehearse  his  achievements  in  the  forest  or 
the  jungle.  They  seem  to  be  as  proud  of  the 
capacity  of  their  stomachs  as  a  prize-fighter  is  of 
his  muscle. 

The  Munich  papers  recently  chronicled  the 
death  of  an  old  man  of  eighty,  in  Tubingen,  who 
had  often  been  known  to  drink  one  hundred  mugs 
of  beer  —  holding  half  a  litre  each  —  in  one  day. 
As  a  litre,  reduced  to  English  measure,  is  a  quart 
and  a  half  pint,  it  will  be  seen  that  he  drank  al 
most  sixteen  gallons. 

A  beer-shop  in  Munich,  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity of  a  church  with  a  clock  in  the  bell-tower, 
became  celebrated  a  few  years  since,  and  got  up 
a  large  run  of  custom,  by  a  famous  beer-drinker 
who  drew  crowds  of  people  at  the  middle  of  the 
day  to  witness  his  performance.  Placing  twelve 


i88 


STUDENTS     BEER   DUELS. 


mugs  of  beer  on  a  table  in  front  of  him  as  the 
clock  commenced  striking  twelve,  he  would  swal- 
low the  contents  of  a  mug  at  each  stroke  of  the 
clock  until  the  twelve  mugs  are  emptied.  A 
Heidelberg  student  thought  nothing  of  placing  to 
his  lips  a  tankard  filled  to  the  brim  with  two  litres 
of  beer  and  swallowing  the  whole  without  stop- 
ping to  take  breath.  Another  student,  who  had 
had  his  cheek  laid  open  in  a  sword  duel,  called  for 
a  glass  of  beer  and  drank  it  through  the  bloody 
opening  of  the  sword-cut  without  wincing,  and  as 
coolly  as  if  he  had  swallowed  it  through  his  mouth. 
The  students  in  the  university  towns  have  what 
is  known  as  "  beer  duels."  They  are  a  species  of 
mock-trials  in  which  two  of  their  number  are 
accused  of  imaginary  crimes  or  misdemeanors,  and 
go  through  the  farce  of  a  trial  before  a  mock 
judge  and  jury,  each  being  eloquently  defended 
by  his  own  counsel.  The  judge  sums  up  the  case 
in  an  elaborate  and  scholarly  speech  ;  and  the  jury, 
after  retiring  to  a  side  room  where  they  drink  an 
indefinite  amount  of  beer,  bring  in  the  verdict 
that  both  of  the  accused  are  guilty,  and  that  they 
must  suffer  the  penalty  by  swallowing  a  certain 
number  of  glasses  of  beer  —  and  not  a  small  num- 

O 

ber,  either  —  in  a  prescribed  space  of   time,  and 
that    the    one    who  fails   in    finishing    his    quota 
first  shall  pay  for  all  the  beer  drunk  by  the  party 
during  the  evening,  or  afternoon,  as  it  may  be. 
The  real  "  sport"  now  commences.     A  table  is 


MOCK    TRIALS    AND     PENALTIES.  189 

cleared,  the  "culprits,"  in  standing  position, are 
placed  opposite  each  other,  and  the  requisite  num. 
her  of  glasses  of  beer  placed  on  the  table  between 
them.  The  judges  and  the  jury  —  their  fellow-stu- 
dents —  and  a  large  number  of  outsiders  gather 
around  in  a  circle  and  watch  the  beer  duel  with 
as  much  interest  as  they  would  a  dog  or  a  cock 
fight. 

The  signal  is  given  and  the  contestants  spring 
for  the  glasses,  which  they  empty  one  after  another 
in  rapid  succession.  Long  practice,  which  most  of 
the  students  have  had,  enables  them  to  do  valiant 
work.  Glass  after  glass  disappears  with  an  astonish- 
ing rapidity.  Each  student  has  his  party  of  friends 
or  backers,  who  cheer,  and  shout,  and  encourage 
him  on  as  if  he  were  neck  and  neck  with  his  com- 
petitor in  a  boat-race.  It  is  seldom  that  both  finish 
their  quotas,  though  one  is  sure  to  come  out  ahead 
of  the  other.  When  one  occasionally  finishes  the 
number  of  glasses  assigned  him,  he  is  sure  to  call 
for  one,  two,  or  three  glasses  or  more,  as  extras, 
which  he  swallows  just  to  show  that  his  appetite 
still  remains  unimpaired.  Of  course  the  victor 
receives  the  plaudits  of  the  assemblage,  and  is 
borne  in  triumph  to  an  improvised  throne,  con- 
sisting of  a  chair  or  stool  placed  on  a  beer-table 
at  the  end  of  the  hall,  where  they  crown  him  with 
a  wreath  of  laurel,  give  him  cheer  after  cheer,  and 
address  him  as  their  patron  saint. 

The    incidents  and   anecdotes   connected  with 


IQO  THE    HEAVIEST    DRINKER    WINS. 

student  life  in  Germany  are  without  end  and 
would  fill  volumes.  Beer-drinking  bouts,  knieps, 
and  duels  are  more  in  vogue,  more  fashionable, 
and  more  patronized  than  hard  study,  and  it  has 
been  observed  by  those  who  have  watched  and 
studied  student  life  abroad  closely,  that  a  majority 
of  the  young  men  who  enter  German  universities 
come  out  demoralized. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

GLIMPSES  OF  GERMANY.  —  FROM  MUNICH  TO  BERLIN.  —  Mo- 
NOTONV  OF  CONTINENTAL  TRAVELLING.  —  SCENERY  FROM 
A  CAR  WINDOW.  —  How  THE  GERMAN  RAILWAYS  ARE 
MANAGED. — A  SYSTEM  AS  PERFECT  AS  CLOCK-WORK. — 
THE  WAGES  PAID  EMPLOYES.  —  PASSENGERS  CARRIED  AT 
FIRST,  SECOND,  THIRD,  AND  FOURTH  CLASS  RATES. — 
EMIGRATION  AND  THE  LABOR  PROBLEMS.  —  WILL  THE 
PROPHECY  OF  MALTHUS  EVER  BE  FULFILLED  ? 

r  I  ^HE  scenery  of  Germany  as  you  view  it  from 
A  the  car  window  is  not  unlike  that  of  France. 
In  either  country  a  terrible  sameness  or  monot- 
ony of  landscape  haunts  the  American  after  he 
has  travelled  the  first  few  miles.  There  are  the 
never-ending  vistas  of  fields  of  grain  stretching 
away  in  the  distance ; — the  long,  regular  patches  of 
land  growing  different  varieties  of  vegetables  side 
by  side;  —  plains  with  herds  of  grazing  cattle  and 
flocks  of  sheep  watched  and  tended  by  sleepy-look- 
ing shepherds ; — an  occasional  landscape  darkened 
in  the  foreground,  or  in  the  distance  by  a  small 
forest  or  a  clump  of  trees ;  — little  villages,  with  clus- 
ters of  dark  and  cheerless  houses  built  of  stone 
and  mortar,  and  the  inevitable  homely  red  tile 
roofs ; —  the  same  wide  roads,  white,  hard,  and  level 
.as  marble  floors,  stretching  away  toward  the  hori- 
zon in  different  directions  and  ending  no  one 
knows  where; —  roads  also,  many  of  them  shaded 


IQ-  LANDSCAPES    FROM    CAR    WINDOWS. 

and  sheltered  on  each  side  for  miles  with  rows  of 
lofty  Lombardy  poplars,  at  long  intervals  perhaps 
the  crumbling  ruins  of  some  old  castle  on  some  dis- 
tant hill-top ;  —  an  occasional  windmill,  a  hay-rick, 
while  the  same  bronze-featured,  scantily  dressed, 
repulsive-looking  peasant-women,  toiling  in  the 
fields  like  so  many  cattle,  are  sure  to  meet  your 
gaze  whichever  way  you  turn  your  eyes.  The 
farms  and  homesteads  belonging  to  different  own- 
ers, and  the  long  stretches  of  land  for  grazing  and 
growing  different  kinds  of  grain  and  vegetables 
side  by  side,  are  not  separated  by  dikes  as  they 
are  in  Holland,  or  by  green  hedges  as  they  are 
in  England,  neither  do  they  make  their  divisions 
by  the  divers  kinds  of  fences  that  we  have  in  Amer- 
ica. Invisible  lines  or  landmarks,  known  only  to 
the  proprietors  or  tillers  of  the  soil,  mark  their 
boundaries.  Nowhere  on  the  Continent  do  we  see 
stone-walls,  rail  fences,  or  fences  of  any  kind.  The 
whole  country,  far  and  near,  that  we  pass  through, 
has  the  appearance  of  an  immense  park  that  may 
belong  to  some  king  or  nobleman,  every  foot  of 
which  has  been  under  cultivation  for  centuries. 

I  do  not  know  the  exact  number  of  miles  be- 
tween Munich  and  Berlin,  but  I  do  know  that  we 
left  the  former  city  at  7.30  in  the  morning,  and 
that  we  reached  Berlin  a  little  after  10  in  the  even- 
ins:,  and  that  there  was  no  changing;  of  trains  nor 

O*  O         O 

were  there  any  long  stoppages  on  the  way.  It  was 
the  express  train,  or  what  they  call  the  schnell  zug. 


RAILWAY   TRAVELLING.  193 

To  have  absorbed  all  this  time  on  an  English 
mail  train,  or  a  fast  express  train  in  America, 
which  averages  about  fifty  miles  an  hour,  we  should 
have  accomplished  over  seven  hundred  miles,  but 
I  understand  that  the  distance  between  the  two 
cities  is  less  than  three  hundred  miles.  Hence  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  German  express  trains  are 
anything  but  fast,  and  to  us  Americans,  who 
would  be  glad  to  travel  by  electricity,  are  terribly 
slow  and  tedious. 

It  seemed  all  the  time  as  if  the  puffing  little 
engine  was  pulling  us  up  steep  grades  with  a 
small  pressure  of  steam,  or  that  we  were  on  some 
funeral  train  which  was  travelling  at  a  slow  rate 
of  speed  in  deference  to  the  feelings  of  the  mourn- 
ers on  board. 

Were  there  to  be  a  collision  of  two  of  these 
schnell  zugs  travelling  in  opposite  directions,  I 
verily  believe  that  all  the  damage  sustained  would 
be  put  to  rights  by  an  expenditure  of  a  few  dollars 
in  repairing  the  cow-catchers.  The  slow  trains 
which  stop  at  every  little  station,  and  known  as 
the  personnen  zugs,  are  patronized  largely  by  those 
who  are  economical  in  their  expenditures  and 
whose  time  is  of  little  account.  The  fare  on  them 
is  about  twenty  per  cent  less  than  on  the  schnell 
zugs,  and  they  crawl  over  the  ground  so  slow  that 
a  man  could  easily  jump  off  of  one  and  recover 
his  lost  hat  and  then  overtake  the  train  before  it 
could  get  out  of  sight. 
»3 


194  WAGES    PAID    RAILWAY   EMPLOYES. 

Perhaps  this  slow  rate  of  travelling  is  owing  to 
the  system  adopted  by  all  German  railway  compa- 
nies in  paying  their  employes.  Their  wages  are 
a  mere  pittance  as  compared  to  the  wages  paid  in 
America  to  employes  of  the  same  class. 

Locomotive  engineers  receive  only  $225  to  $340 
per  year,  conductors  $160  to  $180  per  year,  brake- 
men  from  $140  to  $165  per  year,  road-keepers 
and  switchmen  $130  to  $160  and  $i  So  per  year. 
In  addition  to  these  small  salaries,  they  are  paid 
small  amounts  as  perquisites,  which  help  to 
increase,  though  not  to  a  large  amount,  the  sums 
annually  received.  The  engineer  gets  a  percent- 
age on  the  number  of  kilometres  he  runs  his 
engine  during  the  year,  and,  being  allowed  a  certain 
amount  of  coal  and  oil  for  a  prescribed  number 
of  kilometres,  he  is  paid  a  percentage  of  thirty-five 
per  cent  premium  on  what  he  saves  on  coal  and 
about  fifteen  per  cent  on  oil,  so  he  has  a  strong 
pecuniary  inducement  to  be  as  economical  as  pos- 
sible in  running  his  engine  and  uses  as  little  fuel 
and  oil  as  necessity  will  require.  It  is  to  this 
economy  on  the  part  of  engineers  in  the  saving  of 
coal,  and  not  keeping  up  a  sufficient  head  of 
steam,  that  the  slow  rate  of  railway  travelling  is 
mainly  attributed.  The  sum  total  paid  the  engi- 
neer for  his  year's  labor,  including  salary,  mileage, 
percentage  on  coal  and  oil  saved,  and  for  extra 
work  he  may  perform  in  the  machine-shop,  seldom 
amounts  to  over  $500  or  $550  a  year.  The  con- 


SLOW    BUT    SURE  1 95 

ductor,  who  is  also  allowed  a  percentage  on  the 
number  of  kilometres  he  travels  over  in  a  year, 
receives  in  all  about  $400  to  $450 ;  second  and 
third  class  conductors,  who  act  as  brakemen  and 
whose  perquisites  are  little  or  nothing,  only  get 
about  $250  or  $275. 

But  if  the  wages  paid  by  the  German  railway 
companies  are  small,  and  if  their  trains  do  run  at 
a  slow  rate  of  speed,  probably  the  railways  of  no 
other  country  are  so  well  and  so  thoroughly  built, 
and  so  systematic  and  so  perfect  in  their  manage- 
ment as  these.  It  is  very  seldom  that  accidents 
ever  happen  to  them,  and  the  traveller  feels  a 
sense  of  security  from  the  danger  of  collisions, 
smash-up,  running  off  the  tracks,  etc. ,  that  he 
feels  on  no  other  railways  in  the  world. 

As  the  railways  throughout  Germany,  with  an 
occasional  exception,  are  not  only  built  and  owned 
by  the  government,  but  are  under  government 
control,  everything  pertaining  to  their  construc- 
tion and  management  is  done  in  the  most  thor- 
ough manner  and  with  military  skill  and  precision. 
Military  engineers  of  the  highest  rank  superin- 
tended the  construction  of  the  road-beds,  and  even 
the  splendid  iron  and  glass  covered  depots  and  sta- 
tion buildings  which  are  found  in  all  the  cities  and 
towns  of  any  magnitude.  The  long  lines  of  roads, 
with  their  finely  turfed  and  graded  embankments 
and  excavations,  iron  and  stone  bridges  and  cul- 
verts,—  wooden  ones  are  never  seen,  —  and  their 


196  MILITARY    PRECISION. 

miles  of  tunnels,  are  so  perfect  every  way,  in  their 
smoothness,  finish,  and  strength,  that  they  have 
the  appearance  of  being  part  and  parcel  of  some 
grand  military  network  of  fortifications. 

At  the  railway  stations  the  most  perfect  order 
and  system  prevail.  All  the  officials,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  many  of  whom  have  served 
in  the  German  army,  are  neatly  uniformed,  and 
they  not  only  understand  their  duties,  but  every 
duty  assigned  them  is  discharged  with  military 
promptness  and  precision. 

At  all  of  the  stations  there  are  first,  second,  and 
third  class  waiting-rooms  for  passengers,  each  of 
which  has  its  particular  restaurant  or  lunch-table, 
with  corresponding  refreshments  and  prices.  A 
few  minutes  before  the  departure  of  a  train  the 
doors  of  the  three  rooms  are  opened  simultane- 
ously, and  the  travellers  hurry  out  and  get  their 
seats  in  the  compartments  which  their  tickets 
.entitle  them  to.  A  conductor  goes  around  and 
examines  the  ticket  of  each  passenger  to  see  that 
he  is  "  booked"  right,  and  to  give  any  information 
that  may  be  desired.  The  first  tap  of  the  bell 
signifies  "  to  be  seated  and  close  the  doors,"  the 
second  tap  "  all  ready,"  the  third  tap  "go."  No 
one  is  allowed  to  step  on  board  of  a  train  while  it 
is  in  motion,  nor  can  any  one  open  or  shut  a  car 
door  but  an  official.  * 

The  chef  de  gar e^  who  manages  the  arrivals  and 
departures  of  the  trains,  and  who  appears  to  have 


FIRST,    SECOND,    THIRD,    AND    FOURTH    CLASS.        197 

no  other  duties  to  attend  to,  is  an  imposing-look- 
ing personage  in  a  showy  uniform,  who  always  car- 
ries in  front  of  him  a  large  silver-headed  staff  or 
mace,  with  which,  like  a  drum-major,  he  signals  his 
commands  and  shows  his  authority.  He  is  always 
on  the  watch  and  seems  never  to  take  his  eye  from 
business.  Nothing  is  done,  no  train  enters  or 
leaves  a  station,  without  a  signal  from  his  mace. 

The  code  of  signals  established  among  the 
railway  officials,  which  are  answered  and  inter- 
preted by  the  tap  of  bells  and  the  blowing  of 
whistles,  is  as  perfect  as  on  a  ship-of-war  or  the 
battle-field.  The  moment  a  train  leaves  a  station 
word  is  telegraphed  to  the  station  ahead  so  that 
the  track  may  be  kept  clear  and  everything  in 
readiness  for  the  train's  arrival. 

I  notice  that  in  some  parts  of  Prussia,  and  es- 
pecially on  nearly  all  the  trains  leading  into  Berlin, 
there  are  not  only  first,  second,  and  third  class 
cars,  but  that  there  are  cars  for  fourth-class  pas- 
sengers, with  corresponding  low  rates  of  fares. 
These  cars  are  more  like  cattle-pens  than  anything 
else,  without  seats  or  conveniences  of  any  kind, 
though  occasionally  they  are  provided  with  rough 
benches  with  or  without  backs,  on  which  the  tired 
and  overworked  peasant  or  mechanic  can  rest  his 
wearied  limbs. 

At  the  stations  outside  of  Berlin  I  saw  market 
men  and  women  crowding  into  these  fourth-class 
cars  with  their  big  baskets  of  vegetables  and  fruit 


198  POPULATION    OF    GERMAN    CITIES. 

which  they  were  taking  with  them  to  dispose  of  to 
their  city  customers.  There  were  laundresses 
carrying  home  big  bundles  and  baskets  of  clean 
linen,  mechanics  with  their  kits  of  tools,  field 
laborers  with  their  farming  implements,  all  hud- 
dled promiscuously  together,  and  paying  so  little 
for  their  ride  that  the  poorest  of  them  could 
scarcely  feel  the  expense. 

The  German  government  does  certainly  "  tem- 
per the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb"  in  providing  for 
its  poor  cheap  rates  of  travelling,  cheap  music,  and 
cheap  beer.  If  the  necessities  of  life  in  the  way 
of  food  and  clothing  were  as  correspondingly  cheap, 
there  would  not  be  the  enormous  emigration  from 
the  country  that  has  been  going  on  for  the  last 
twenty  or  fifty  years,  and  which  is  constantly 
increasing.  • 

Of  the  large  cities  of  Europe,  Berlin  ranks  third 
in  size  to  London  and  Paris,  the  census  of  last 
year,  1881,  giving  it  1,100,000  inhabitants.  In 
1850  it  had  but  400,000,  again  of  700,000  in 
thirty  years,  —  thus  doubling  and  nearly  trebling 
its  numbers.  Nor  is  Berlin  exceptional  from  other 
German  cities  in  its  rapid  growth.  Dresden  in 
1850  had  90,000  inhabitants,  and  now  it  numbers 
about  220,000;  Breslau  thirty  years  ago  had  ibo,- 
ooo,  and  at  present  it  numbers  280,000;  eighty 
years  ago  Munich  had  50,000,  thirty  years  ago  100,- 
ooo,  and  last  year  230,000  inhabitants. 

Not  only  these  cities,  but  all  the  German  cities 


GERMAN    MOTHERS.  159 

and  also  the  towns,  show  the  same  remarkable 
growth.  And  this  growth  is  not  occasioned  by 
emigration  from  outside  the  empire's  borders,  as 
it  is  in  America,  but  from  the  people's  literally 
fulfilling  the  Scripture  commands  to  "increase 
and  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth."  It  is  sel- 
dom that  a  German  mother  has  less  than  eisrht  or 

O 

ten  children,  while  it  is  common  for  them  to  have 
twelve  and  fifteen,  and  not  uncommon  for  much 
higher  numbers.  Pray  don't  have  any  anxiety 
lest  Germany  becomes  depopulated  and  ruined 
from  the  enormous  emigration  that  is  constantly 
taking  place  to  other  countries,  and  especially  to 
America.  The  country  is  already  over-populated ; 
it  has  more  mouths  than  it  has  bread  to  feed,  more 
hands  than  it  has  labor  to  perform.  The  great 
problem  which  Bismarck  and  the  government  at 
present  are  trying  to  solve  is  what  to  do  with  the 
increasing  millions  of  the  future. 

Emigration  is  the  great  safety-valve  of  the  coun- 
try, and  through  its  channels  the  surplus  popula- 
tion, or  a  portion  of  it,  at  least,  seek  new  homes  in 
foreign  lands  and  under  foreign  skies,  where 
labor  is  in  demand  and  receives  its  just  reward, 
and  where  the  hard-working  laborer  and  mechanic 
will  be  free  from  the  military  despotism  which  in 
Germany  grinds  them  to  earth.  In  some  parts 
of  Germany  the  population  has  more  than  doub- 
led in  sixteen  years  and  from  1872  to  1878  the 
yearly  excess  of  births  over  deaths  was  542,000, 


2OO  EMIGRATION    THE    GREAT    SAFETY-VALVE. 

and  at  the  present  rate  of  increase  the  population 
of  the  country  will  reach  nearly  a  hundred  mill- 
ions before  the  next  century  is  half  completed. 
From  1816  to  1864  the  increase  of  population  in 
Prussia  was  from  10,350,000  to  19,260,000,  and  in 
1875  to  2 1, 2  32,000,  or  one  hundred  and  five  percent. 
With  these  startling  figures,  the  German  econ- 
omist is  busy  at  work  over  his  calculations,  endeav- 
oring to  fix  on  the  time  in  the  future  when  the 
prophecy  of  Malthus  will  be  fulfilled,  and  the 
population  of  this  earth  will  be  so  dense  that  there 
will  not  be  standing-room  on  the  earth's  surface 
for  its  inhabitants.  The  labor  question  now  is 
the  question  of  the  hour,  and  is  engrossing  the 
attention  of  not  only  the  higher,  but  the  lower 
classes.  Where  there  is  a  demand  for  the  labor 
of  one  pair  of  hands  there  are  twenty  striving  to 
get  it.  Parents  in  alarm  are  anxiously  asking, 
"  What  shall  we  do  with  our  children  ?  "  Strong, 
able-bodied  men  who  would  jump  at  the  chance 
to  work  for  a  mark  —  twenty-five  cents  —  for  ten 
or  twelve  hours'  labor,  seek  work  in  vain.  There 
is  no  opening  of  commerce,  for  the  commerce  of 
the  country  is  small  and  is  confined  mostly  to  one 
or  two  ports.  There  is  a  great  pressure  to  enter 
the  military  service,  notwithstanding  its  insignifi- 
cant pay,  but  the  service  is  already  over-crowded, 
and  has  twenty  applicants  where  one  is  received. 
Not  only  the  German  government,  but  cities  and 
townships  throughout  the  empire,  are  financially 


NO   DANGER   OF    OVER-EMIGRATION.  2OI 

embarrassed  and  find  it  almost  an  impossibility  to 
raise  money  by  taxation  to  meet  the  increasing 
demands. 

Statistics  which  have  been  carefully  gathered 
show  that  the  emigration  from  Germay  in  the 
last  sixty  years  has  amounted  to  three  and  a  half 
millions,  the  greatest  share  of  which,  about  seven 
eighths,  has  taken  place  since  1850,  and  mostly  to 
the  United  States;  and  the  same  statistics  show 
that  the  direct  loss  to  Germany  by  its  emigration 
in  the  sixty  years  specified  has  amounted  to  ten 
millards  of  marks  or  about  two  and  a  half  millions 
of  dollars,  —  more  than  twice  the  enormous  sum 
of  the  war  indemnity  which  Germany  required  of 
France  at  the  conclusion  of  the  late  Franco-Prus- 
sian war,  —  and  the  United  States  has  been  the 
gainer  by  what  has  been  Germany's  loss.* 

It  has  long  been  a  question,  and  a  puzzling  one 
too,  with  the  German  Congress  here  in  Berlin,  how 
to  stop  the  constant  drain  which  is  all  the  time 
taking  place  by  emigration  from  the  country.  If 
the  government  couid  select  those  from  among 
the  working  and  lower  classes  whom  they  would 
be  glad  to  get  rid  of,  it  would  make  no  opposition, 
but  the  trouble  is,  those  who  go  across  the  ocean 
in  search  of  new  homes  and  new  fortunes  are  not 

*  These  items  of  Germany's  loss  by  emigration  are  taken  from  statistics 
carefully  prepared  by  German  economists  and  include  the  direct  loss  of 
money  taken  out  of  the  country  by  the  emigrants,  —  the  amount  the  gov 
ernment  has  paid  for  their  education,  and  various  other  items  which  could 
be  mentioned. 


2O2  PLENTY    OF    ROOM    IN    AMERICA. 

the  ordinary  candidates  for  pauper-houses  and 
poor-farms,  but  are  mostly  first-class  mechanics 
and  artisans  and  those  of  the  hard-working  labor- 

O 

ers  who  physically  and  mentally  make  the  best 
material  for  the  German  army  and  German  citizens> 
and  are  of  the  class  they  would  like  to  keep  at  home. 
I  cannot  give  the  exact  number  of  Germans  who 
gave  up  country  and  home  to  take  up  their  future 
residence  in  the  United  States  during  the  past  year, 
but  there  was  enough,  certainly,  to  have  populated  a 
good-sized  territory,  or  to  have  created  two  or  three 
good-sized  cities  and  entitled  them  to  city  charters. 
At  one  of  the  railway  stations  in  Berlin  during  the 
past  summer,  1,100  emigrants  left  for  the  United 
States  in  one  day,  and  this  same  flow  of  emigration 
from  different  parts  of  the  empire  has  been  going  on 
the  whole  season  and  is  now  rapidly  increasing. 

Germany  claims  at  present  over  45,000,000  in- 
habitants. In  area  it  covers  204,719  square  miles. 
The  State  of  Texas  has  274,356  square  miles;  so 
that  to  plant  the  whole  German  Empire  on  its  sur- 
face, mile  for  mile,  with  its  45,000,000  of  people, 
there  would  still  be  territory  enough  left  to  make 
three  countries  larger  than  Portugal,  Switzerland, 
and  Denmark  combined.  With  the  outlook  of  this 
one  State  for  the  future  homes  of  Europe's  surplus 
millions,  to  say  nothing  of  our  other  great  States 
and  Territories  which  at  present  are  sparsely  pop- 
ulated, there  is  not  much  danger  of  over-emigra- 
tion for  centuries  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

BERLIN  AND  ITS  MONUMENTS.  —  ITS  PALACES  AND  ART  TREAS- 
URES.—  PARIS  AND  BERLIN  AS  ART  CENTRES.  —  A  VISIT 
TO  THE  OLD  SCHLOSS.  —  ITS  MAGNIFICENT  SUITES  OF 
APARTMENTS.  —  ITS  THRONE  ROOMS,  PICTURE  GALLERIES, 
BALL  AND  RECEPTION  ROOMS,  WITH  THEIR  SPLENDID  DEC- 
ORATIONS AND  PRICELESS  CONTENTS. 

WHEN  you  have  seen  Paris  you  have  seen 
France,  for  France  centres  in  Paris.  Lyons, 
Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  Havre,  and  all  of  its  large 
cities,  aside  from  their  commercial  interests,  have 
few  attractions  in  the  way  of  sight-seeing  that 
would  detain  a  traveller  over  nisfht.  These  cities 

O 

have  no  celebrated  picture  galleries,  no  great  col- 
lections of  sculpture  and  works  of  art,  no  grand  old 
palaces  and  castles,  no  celebrated  universities  and 
schools  of  learning  to  attract  students  from  all 
parts  of  the  world,  no  great  museums  overflow- 
ing with  historical  souvenirs  of  past  ages ;  what- 
ever they  may  have  had  of  great  national  interest 
in  years  gone  by,  even  to  their  schools  and  univer- 
sities, have  been  gathered  up  and  sent  to  Paris. 

The  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  German  cities, 
or  of  its  towns  and  villages.  Berlin  certainly  does 
not  absorb  Germany  as  Paris  absorbs  France,  al- 
though it  is  piled  full  and  overflowing  with  attrac- 
tions. The  German  cities,  large  and  small,  are 


2O4  THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE. 

more  or  less  noted  as  art  or  educational  centres, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  find  even  a  village  of  any  size 
but  what  has  some  attraction  that  will  draw  tour- 
ists out  of  their  way  to  visit  it, —  some  crumbling 
old  castle,  or  the  home  or  birthplace  of  some  famous 
poet,  painter,  or  musician,  a  celebrated  painting  by 
one  of  the  old  masters,  a  battle-field  memorable  in 
history,  or  some  ancient  university  of  world-wide 
celebrity. 

The  German  Empire  is  made  up  of  kingdoms,, 
duchies,  and  principalities, —  like  so  many  States,  or 
counties  of  a  State,  —  all  of  which,  previous  to  the 
last  German  Confederation,  were  independent  of 
each  other,  and  had  their  own  separate  rulers,  their 
own  capitals,  laws,  etc.  Berlin,  Dresden,  Munich, 
Stuttgart,  and  Hanover  were  the  capitals  of  the 
five  kingdoms  of  Prussia,  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Wiir- 
temberg,  and  Hanover;  and  there  were  seventeen 
duchies,  the  principal  of  which  were  Baden,  Bruns- 
wick, Nassau,  Holstein,  Mecklenburg,  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, Saxe-Wiemar.  Besides  these  there  were 
eleven  principalities,  and  four  what  were  called 
free  cities,  Bremen,  Hamburg,  Lubeck,  and  Frank- 
fort. 

The  dukes  and  princes  who  ruled  over  the 
duchies  and  principalities  were  as  absolute  and 
imperious  in  their  control  as  were  the  five  kings 
over  their  kingdoms,  or  the  autocrat  of  Russia 
over  his  vast  dominions.  The  subjects  of  all  of 
them,  either  by  taxation  or  by  force,  and  often  by 


GERMANY  A  VAST  STOREHOUSE  OF  THE  ARTS.    2O5 

both,  were  compelled  to  yield  up  the  greater  share 
of  their  incomes  and  hard  earnings,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  their  entire  fortunes,  to  swell  the  coffers 
of  those  who  held  sway  over  the  land. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  immense  fortunes  were 
accumulated  and  immense  estates  acquired  by  the 
royalty  and  nobility,  many  of  whom  spent  enor- 
mous sums  in  building  castles  and  palaces,  and 
in  buying  up  the  vast  tracts  of  land  which  have 
since  been  inherited  by  the  generations  following 
after  them. 

With  their  great  wealth  they  adorned  their  cap- 
itals with  the  elegance  and  extravagance  of  the 
Roman  emperors ;  they  transformed  parts  of  their 
estates  into  beautiful  parks  and  public  gardens, 
which  they  embellished  with  artificial  lakes,  water- 
falls, and  fountains;  they  erected  magnificent  pub- 
lic buildings,  art  galleries,  and  museums  to  store 
the  treasures  of  art  and  science  and  the  historical 
souvenirs  of  past  ages,  as  well  as  the  present,  that 
had  been  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  It 
was  from  such  beginnings  and  through  such  chan- 
nels that  Germany  has  become  such  a  storehouse 
of  all  that  is  beautiful  in  the  way  of  art,  and  that 
she  has  within  her  borders  more  palaces  and  grand 
old  castles  than  all  the  rest  of  Europe  combined. 
Paris  can  easily  hold  the  art  treasures  of  France, 
but  it  would  take  several  cities  of  the  size  of  the 
French  capital  to  accommodate  all  the  art  treas- 
ures of  Germany. 


2O6  BERLIN. 

There  is  so  much  of  interest  in  Berlin,  so  much 
to  see,  that  the  stranger  on  first  arriving  here  is  at 
a  loss  as  to  which  particular  object  or  place  he 
will  first  devote  his  attention.  There  are  palaces 
on  every  hand ;  there  are  whole  streets  of  govern- 
ment and  public  buildings  of  great  size  and 
splendid  architecture ;  there  are  beautiful  parks, 
bridges,  and  triumphal  arches,  bronze  and  marble 
statues,  and  lofty  monuments  to  the  illustrious 
dead ;  art  galleries  and  museums  of  vario'us  kinds 
without  number;  churches,  cathedrals,  and  syna- 
gogues; grand  opera  buildings  and  theatres, 
famous  beer-gardens  and  concert-halls,  prisons, 
hospitals,  and  universities,  the  finest  aquarium  and 
zoological  garden  in  the  world,  arsenals,  military 
schools,  cavalry  and  infantry  barracks  by  the  mile  ; 
and  it  has  a  real  live  emperor,  a  Bismarck,  and  a 
Von  Moltke,  —  to  which  of  all  these  shall  I  first 
pay  my  respects  ? 

Standing  on  the  steps  of  my  hotel,  I  find  I  am 
looking  out  on  one  of  the  famous  streets  of  the 
world,  the  Unter  den  Linden.  It  is  late  in  the 
season  and  the  winds  have  stripped  the  leaves 
from  the  dwarfish,  scraggy  trees  that  give  the 
street  its  name,  so  that  I  can  look  up  and  down 
its  full  length  —  for  it  is  but  a  mile  long  —  and 
see  the  living  panorama  of  people  and  carriages 
that  are  moving  in  both  directions  like  immense 
processions  that  seem  to  have  no  end.  The 
street  is  two  hundred  feet  wide  and  has  a  fine 


ITS    PALACES   AND    MONUMENTS. 

promenade  in  the  centre,  with  carriage  drives  on 
each  side,  and  also  a  road-bed  reserved  expressly 
for  horseback  riders. 

Beautiful  palaces,  attractive  shops,  large,  spacious 
hotels,  public  buildings,  universities,  museums, 
etc.,  enclose  this  famous  boulevard  on  both  sides. 
At  its  terminus  toward  the  south  I  can  see  the 
celebrated  Brandenburg  gate  or  triumphal  arch, 
with  its  beautiful  bronze  car  of  victory  perched 
on  top,  which  was  carried  to  Paris  as  a  trophy  by 
Napoleon,  but  afterward  brought  back  by  the  Prus- 
sians after  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  The  arch,  as  I 
am  told,  is  nearly  one  hundred  feet  high  and  a 
little  over  two  hundred  feet  wide,  and  spans  five 
distinct  carriage  drives,  the  centre  one  of  which 
is  reserved  expressly  for  the  nobility,  and  several 
armed  soldiers  stand  as  sentinels  to  see  that  no 
one  of  plebeian  birth  passes  beneath  its  sacred 
portals. 

At  the  other  extremity  of  the  Unter  den  Linden, 
around  a  large  open  platz  or  circle,  are  clustered 
some  of  the  most  celebrated  buildings  in  the  city, 
—  the  national  gallery,  the  royal  museum,  the  new 
museum,  the  royal  library,  and  the  immense  old 
schloss  or  palace  several  hundred  feet  square  and 
enclosing  two  courts. 

It  was  in  this  palace  that  Frederick  the  Great 
was  born  and  where  he  passed  several  years  of 
his  adventurous  life. 

Not  far  from  me,  in  a  small  open  platz  in  the 


2O8  MONUMENT    OF    FREDERICK    THE    GREAT. 

centre  of  the  Unter  den  Linden,  is  the  famous 
bronze  statue  of  this  historical  king,  and  I  push 
my  way  through  the  crowds  of  people  and  the 
rush  of  carriages  to  examine  it  more  closely.  It 
is  claimed  to  be,  and  probably  is,  the  finest  and 
most  expensive  bronze  statue  in  the  world.  It 
stands  on  a  broad  pedestal  of  polished  granite 
twenty-five  feet  high,  the  surface  of  the  sides  and 
ends  of  which  are  covered  with  bronze  bas-reliefs 
of  life-size  of  all  the  great  generals  and  military 
heroes  who  fought  with  "  old  Fritz  "  during  his 
campaigns,  and  especially  during  the  memorable 
Seven  Years'  War. 

At  each  corner  of  the  pedestal,  where  the  bas- 
reliefs  meet,  are  the  bronze  statues  of  four  of  his 
favorite  generals  on  horseback,  all  of  life  size,  — 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  Prince  Henrich,  Gens. 
Seydlitz  and  Ziethen.  The  equestrian  statue  of 
"  old  Fritz  "  that  surmounts  the  pedestal,  on  which 
there  are  many  more  bronze  bas-reliefs,  represent- 
ing scenes  and  incidents  in  the  life  of  the  great 
king,  is  seventeen  and  a  half  feet  high,  and  is  the 
largest  equestrian  statue  in  Europe,  though  it  is 
not  so  large  as  the  one  of  Washington,  which  was 
cast  in  1858  at  Munich  for  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and  which  is  twenty-five  feet  high. 

From  the  statue  I  recross  the  street  to  the  side- 
walk, and  turn  my  footsteps  in  the  direction  of  the 
old  schloss  or  palace  of  Frederick  the  Great.  The 
first  building  which  I  pass,  and  which  faces  the 


THE  EMPEROR'S  PALACE.  209 

statue,  is  the  palace  of  the  Emperor  William.  It 
is  built  of  dark  brown  stone,  is  plain  in  its  archi- 
tecture, and  has  anything  but  an  imposing  front 
or  appearance.  A  number  of  armed  soldiers  in 
full  uniform  guard  all  its  approaches  and  entran- 
ces, both  on  the  front  and  sides.  Farther  up  the 
street  I  pass  the  palace  of  the  Emperor's  only  son, 
the  Crown  Prince,  Frederick  William,  who  mar- 
ried the  eldest  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria,  and 
who,  if  he  lives,  will  be  the  next  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many. Here,  also,  armed  soldiers  guard  the 
palace  from  all  points.  I  am  told  that  there  are 
over  50,000  soldiers  in  and  around  Berlin,  and  so 
thick  are  they  in  the  streets  that  the  city  has  the 
appearance  of  a  vast  military  camp. 

Nearly  every  other  person  I  meet  is  a  German 
officer  in  full  uniform,  with  spurs  on  his  heels  and 
a  big  sabre  that  dangles  from  his  belt  and  clanks 
on  the  paved  sidewalk  at  every  step  he  takes.  I 
notice  that  the  sentinels  who  guard  the  palaces 
and  all  the  government  buildings  are  constantly 
on  the  alert  and  kept  busy  in  saluting  the  officers 
as  they  pass  by. 

Twice,  while  walking  the  short  distance  up 
street,  my  attention  is  arrested  by  martial  music, 
and  I  stop  to  witness  the  passing  by, —  once  of  a 
company  of  Uhlan  cavalry,  and  again  of  a  regi- 
ment of  infantry.  It  was  a  fascinating  sight,  and 
I  could  have  stood  all  day  listening  to  such 
splendid  martial  music  and  watching  the  showy 
14 


2IO  THE    OLD    SCHLOSS. 

uniforms  and  the  perfect  step  of  the  soldiers, 
which  is  like  clock-work.  Even  the  horses  have 
been  so  thoroughly  drilled  that  they  seem  to  keep 
time  in  every  step  and  movement  to  the  exciting 
music  ahead  of  them 

The  building  of  the  old  schloss  was  first  begun 
by  the  Elector  Frederic  II.,  in  1452,  and  has  been 
enlarged  and  added  to  by  all  the  succeeding 
kings,  until  it  has  attained  its  present  vast  propor- 
tions. There  are  about  seven  hundred  rooms, 
many  of  which  are  of  great  size  and  sufficiently 
large  for  concert-halls  or  ball-rooms  that  will  ac- 
commodate several  hundred  people  each.  So  high 
are  the  rooms  from  floors  to  ceiling  that  the  four 
stories  rise  to  the  height  of  a  little  over  one  hun- 
dred feet,  while  the  grand  dome  that  covers  the 
chapel  is  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  One  of 
the  rooms  is  still  pointed  out  where  Frederick  the 
Great  was  born,  in  1712. 

When  I  at  last  reach  the  palace  and  find  the 
door  by  which  I  am  to  enter,  I  am  directed  to  an 
armed  sentry  in  waiting,  who  conducts  me  to  a 
spacious  ante-  or  reception-room,where  I  join  about 
twenty  people  who  are  waiting  to  be  shown  over 
the  building. 

We  have  not  long  to  wait.  A  huge  oaken  door, 
that  opens  to  regions  beyond,  swings  on  its  hinges 
at  just  eleven  o'clock,  and  a  guide,  or  castellan,  as 
he  is  called,  dressed  in  the  livery  of  a  court  flunky, 
makes  his  appearance  with  a  big  bunch  of  keys. 


ITS    INTERIOR    MAGNIFICENCE.  211 

any  one  of  which  seems  to  be  the  size  of  an  ordi- 
nary pocket  pistol.  Motioning  us  to  follow  him, 
he  leads  the  way  to  the  second  story  of  the  palace 
by  a  broad,  winding  passage,  up  which  the  kings 
and  queens  in  olden  times  used  to  ride  in  carriages 
or  on  horseback.  In  the  first  room  we  enter  the 
guide  opens  a  big  chest  and  takes  out  an  armful 
of  large  felt  slippers,  and  requests  that  each  of  us 
shall  put  on  a  pair  over  our  shoes,  that  we  may  not 
scratch  the  highly  polished  oak  or  inlaid  floors, 
that  glisten  like  mirrors  and  are  as  slippery  as 
ice. 

I  will  not  undertake  to  describe  what  I  saw  dur- 
ing the  two  hours  that  I  was  shown  through  room 
after  room  and  suites  of  rooms,  each  rivalling  the 
other  in  its  gorgeous  decorations  and  the  wealth 
of  treasures  it  contained.  To  a  person  who  has 
never  visited  one  of  these  European  palaces  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  convey  an  idea  of  their  vast 
extent,  the  millions  of  money  spent  in  their  con- 
struction and  embellishment,  and  the  magnificence 
and  dazzling  splendor  which  greet  the  eye  of  the 
beholder  as  he  first  enters  them.  The  many  rooms 
that  I  passed  through  were  only  a  part  of  those  on 
the  second  story,  and  I  probably  did  not  see  one 
twentieth  that  the  palace  contained.  But  I  saw 
enough  for  one  day.  One  sees  so  much  of  gilded 
decorations,  paintings,  elegant  frescos,  Gobelin 
tapestries,  ornaments  made  of  rare  stones,  marbles, 
and  precious  metals,  and  furniture  of  the  costliest 


212  THE    WHITE    ROOM. 

and  most  luxurious  description,  that  the  eye  at  last 
grows  weary  of  looking  and  is  glad  to  seek  relief. 

The  picture  gallery  alone  is  two  hundred  feet 
long,  the  guide  tells  us,  and  its  walls  are  covered 
with  the  works  of  the  old  and  modern  masters, 
and  yet  even  this  elegant  gallery  contains  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  pictures  that  are  to  be  seen 
in  the  palace,  for  every  room  is  a  picture  gallery 
in  itself,  so  full  are  they  of  paintings. 

The  "  White  Room,"  as  it  is  called,  was  refitted 
and  redecorated  about  thirty  years  ago  at  an  ex- 
pense of  about  $600,000.  How  such  a  vast  sum 
could  be  expended  on  one  room  —  a  sum  more 
than  sufficient  to  erect  and  furnish  two  such 
buildings  as  the  White  House  at  Washington  — 
would  be  a  mystery  to  a  person  without  he  could 
see  the  magnificent  room  itself.  The  palace 
chapel,  which  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
high  and  of  octagonal  shape  and  eighty  feet  in 
diameter,  is  in  keeping  with  the  "  White  Room," 
though  not  so  gaudily  decorated.  Its  walls  to 
the  vaulted  ceiling  overhead  are  lined  with  rare 
marbles  of  different  colors,  highly  polished,  and 
its  floor  is  paved  in  mosaic  of  the  same  beautiful 
material.  Behind  its  altar  and  pulpit,  which  are 
of  yellow  Egyptian  and  Carrara  marble,  beauti- 
fully sculptured,  is  a  cross  composed  of  precious 
stones,  about  three  feet  in  length,  which  is  said  to 
have  cost  nearly  half  a  million  dollars. 

The   various  rooms    in    the    palace    are    well 


ROYAL    SOUVENIRS. 


213 


stored  with  costly  and  elegant  presents  which 
the  various  kings  have  received  from  their  sub- 
jects and  from  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe. 
The  guide  was  constantly  calling  our  attention  to 
one  thing  after  another  as  having  been  given  by 
the  Emperor  of  Russia,  or  the  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria, or  by  some  of  their  kingly  colleagues.  I 
saw  so  many  of  these  royal  souvenirs,  as  well  as 
souvenirs  from  those  of  more  humble  stations  in 
life,  that  they  have  all  become  blended  in  my 
memory  in  one  confused  mass,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  for  me  to  remember  or  describe  half  a 
dozen  objects  that  attracted  my  attention.  But 
from  the  confusion  there  does  loom  up  a  pair  of 
magnificent  malachite  vases  several  feet  hiijh  that 

o  o 

came  from  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  and  there  was 
a  massive  column  eight  feet  high  of  solid  silver, 
that  looked  like  a  small  monument,  which  was 
given  to  the  present  Emperor  by  the  officers  of 
the  army  and  navy  in  1867  on  the  sixtieth  anni- 
versary of  his  admission  to  the  military  service. 
The  Ritter-saal,  or  throne-room,  is  the  most  gor- 
geous in  its  furnishings  and  in  its  dazzling  splen- 
dor of  any  apartment  in  the  whole  palace.  The 
room  fairly  glittered  with  its  solid  gold  and  silver 
decorations,  and  with  its  thrones,  which  are  of 
massive  silver. 

In  the  picture  gallery  which  I  have  mentioned 
was  the  original  painting  by  David,  the  celebrated 
French  painter,  of  Napoleon  crossing  the  Great 


214  AN    HISTORICAL    PAINTING. 

St.  Bernard,  or,  as  it  is  better  known,  "  Napoleon 
crossing  the  Alps."  This  famous  picture  is  known 
all  over  the  world  by  the  numberless  engravings 
and  copies  which  have  been  made  from  it,  in  which 
the  great  general  is  represented  in  a  cocked  hat 
and  military  cloak  riding  a  fiery  charger  that  ap- 
pears to  be  on  the  point  of  dashing  over  an  Alpine 
precipice.  That  he  rode  a  horse  at  all  in  making 
that  fearful  pass  is  not  justified  by  fact  or  history. 
Some  years  ago,  in  crossing  the  Great  St.  Bernard, 
I  employed  an  old  gray-headed  guide,  who  informed 
me  that  his  father  was  the  guide  who  led  Napoleon 
and  his  army  over  those  Alpine  heights,  and  that 
instead  of  Napoleon's  riding  a  horse,  he  rode  a 
mule  the  whole  distance,  or  rather  three  mules,  for 
two  of  them  died  in  making  the  passage.  I  learned 
afterward,  on  what  was  good  authority,  that  the 
guide  spoke  the  truth.  The  painting,  which  is 
a  master-work  of  art,  was  brought  to  Berlin  from 
Paris  by  Blucher  when  that  city  was  in  possession 
of  the  allied  armies  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo. 

And  here  I  will  leave  this  old  palace,  a  huge 
relic  of  the  past,  with  its  retinue  of  servants  who 
inhabit  it,  who  watch  over  it,  and  guard  its  treas- 
ures from  vandal  hands.  No  emperor,  no  king, 
no  prince,  no  one  of  royal  blood  lives  in  it  or  sleeps 
in  it,  but  it  stands  there  in  its  grim  old  age  like  a 
monster  prison-house  to  store  its  millions  of  useless 
wealth  and  costly  treasures,  good  for  nothing  but  to 
gratify  the  idle  curiosity  of  strangers  from  all  lands. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

MORE  OF  PRUSSIA'S  ROYAL  SHOW-HOUSES.  —  PALACES  AT 
POTSDAM.  — BABELSBERG. —  THE  MARBLE  PALACE.  — THE 
NEW  PALACE.  —  ROYAL  PALACE.  —  SANS-SOUCI,  ETC.  —  IN- 
TERIOR MAGNIFICENCE. —  SOUVENIRS  AND  REMINISCENCES  OF 
"OLD  FRITZ." — A  SECRET  BANQUET  HALL. —  THE  COFFINS 
OF  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT  AND  HIS  BRUTAL  FATHER. 

ONE  of  the  first  excursions  that  strangers  usu- 
ally make  after  arriving  in  Berlin  is  to  visit 
Potsdam,  which  is  sixteen  miles  away.  The  short 
journey  can  be  made  by  steam-cars  which  leave 
Berlin  every  hour,  but  if  the  weather  is  not  too 
wintry,  and  especially  in  the  spring  and  summer 
months,  it  is  far  pleasanter  to  take  a  carriage  for 
the  day  and  drive  the  distance  through  some  of 
the  most  charming  scenery  in  Germany,  and  over 
the  identical  road  which  Frederick  the  Great  and 
the  Prussian  kings  before  and  since  his  reign 
were  in  the  habit  of  travelling  almost  daily. 

The  city,  which  is  really  a  suburb  of  Berlin,  has 
nearly  50,000  inhabitants,  and  owes  its  celebrity  to 
having  been  the  country  home  or  residence  of  all 
the  Prussian  kings  for  the  last  two  hundred  years. 
It  is  to  Berlin  what  Versailles  is  to  Paris,  and 
though  it  excels  Versailles  in  the  number  of  its 
palaces  and  in  the  extent  of  its  parks  and  gardens, 
yet  the  latter  are  not  so  beautifully  kept  as  those 


2l6  POTSDAM. 

of  the  royal  suburb  of  Paris.  So  cold  and  wintry 
was  the  day  we  had  selected  to  visit  this  suburb 
of  Berlin  that  our  party  decided  to  go  out  by  the 
railway  instead  of  private  conveyance. 

Arriving  at  the  Potsdam  station  we  took  a  car- 
riage and  first  drove  out  to  Babelsberg,  four  or 
five  miles  away,  to  see  the  beautiful  palace  which 
belongs  to  the  present  Emperor,  and  where  he, 
with  his  son,  the  Crown  Prince,  spends  most  of  the 
summer  season.  It  was  built  only  thirty  years 
ago,  and  has  not  that  ancient  look  or  that  smell 
of  antiquity  which  distinguish  and  pervade  most 
of  the  European  palaces.  It  is  a  perfect  gem 
of  architecture,  neither  too  large  or  to  small,  and 
situated  as  it  is  in  the  midst  of  a  large  park,  bor- 
dering on  a  beautiful  little  lake,  it  looks  like  an 
elegant  private  villa  that  might  have  been  built  by 
a  Rothschild  or  some  one  of  great  wealth,  as  well 
as  of  excellent  taste.  There  was  no  one  in  the 
palace  but  the  custodian,  an  old  lady,  who  showed 
us  through  all  the  different  suites  of  rooms,  even  to 
the  Emperor's  private  study  and  bedroom,  in  which 
was  the  little  single  iron  bedstead  on  which  he 
slept,  and  which  could  not  have  cost  over  $5.00. 
The  halls  and  corridors  were  perfectly  lined  with 
trophies  of  the  chase,  boars'  heads,  stags'  antlers, 
etc.,  which  the  Emperor  had  won  years  gone  by. 

From  Babelsberg  we  drive  a  mile  or  two  miles 
distant  to  the  Marble  Palace,  as  it  is  called  from 
the  free  use  of  that  material  that  is  used  in  its 


BABELSBERG  AND  THE  NEW  PALACE.       2 1/ 

construction  and  interior  decoration.  It  was  built 
one  hundred  years  ago  by  Frederick  William  II., 
and  though  not  so  grand  or  historically  interesting 
as  some  of  the  other  palaces  in  Potsdam,  yet  its 
elegant  suites  of  rooms,  which  are  full  of  rare  paint- 
ings, furniture,  and  ornaments,  are  well  worth  a 
visit. 

The  next  palace  we  come  to  is  called  the  New 
Palace,  which  was  built  by  Frederick  the  Great 
at  immense  expense,  at  the  termination  of  the 
Seven  Years'  War ;  not  that  he  needed  the  palace, 
but  to  show  his  enemies  that  he  had  not  been 
ruined  financially  and  had  plenty  of  funds  left. 

One  immense  room  on  the  ground  floor  that 
attracts  much  attention  from  strangers,  and  which 
is  a  work  of  curiosity,  is  built  in  imitation  of  a 
huge  grotto,  its  walls  and  ceiling  being  com- 
pletely inlaid  with  varieties  of  sea-shells,  sparkling 
minerals,  precious  stones,  crystals,  stalactites,  and 
spars  of  variegated  and  brilliant  hues.  The  floor 
is  paved  in  fine  mosaic  and  in  grotesque  and  odd 
figures,  with  bits  of  different  colored  marbles  and 
stones. 

The  room,  which  is  of  nearly  circular  shape, 
and  without  any  pillars  or  supports,  must  be  over 
one  hundred  feet  in  diameter.  The  effect,  when 
the  room  is  thoroughly  lit  up  at  night  from  its 
numerous  rock  crystal  chandeliers,  is  brilliant  and 
dazzling  beyond  description.  Another  beautiful 
room,  called  the  Marble  Saloon,  is  one  hundred 


21 8          RESIDEXZ,  OR  ROYAL  PALACE. 

feet  long,  its  floor  and  walls,  which  are  of  great 
height,  being  made  entirely  of  polished  marble. 
There  are  over  two  hundred  rooms  in  the  palace, 
but  we  are  allowed  to  go  through  only  part  of 
those  on  the  ground  floor,  as  the  upper  part  of  the 
palace  was  being  put  in  readiness  for  a  grand 
ball  in  the  evening  which  was  to  be  given  by  the 
Crown  Prince,  who  was  coming  down  from  Berlin 
with  a  large  party  of  nobility  and  royalty  to  cele- 
brate his  birthday  or  rather  his  birthnight. 

From  this  palace  our  coachman  takes  us  off  to 
another  part  of  the  city  by  a  long  drive,  and  stops 
in  front  of  another  immense  cluster  of  buildings, 
which  he  tells  us  is  the  Residenz,  or  Royal  Palace. 
This  is  the  oldest  palace  of  all,  dating  back  two 
hundred  and  twenty  years  or  more.  Here  we  go 
over  the  same  old  route  again, —  through  corridors 
of  long  distances,  through  halls  and  lobbies  hung 
with  rare  old  paintings,  with  suits  of  armor  and 
historical  souvenirs,  and  through  room  after  room 
that  vie  with  each  other  in  the  splendor  of  their 
decorations  and  the  richness  of  contents. 

But  the  chief  attractions  in  this  old  palace  are 
the  many  souvenirs  which  have  been  carefully 
treasured  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  the  suites 
of  apartments  which  he  once  occupied,  and  which 
remain  almost  in  the  same  state  that  the  great 
general  left  them. 

The  custodian,  —  for  there  is  no  one  living  in 

O 

the  vast  pile  of  buildings,  —  a  nice-looking,  mid- 


A    SECRET    BAXOUET-ROOM. 

die-aged  German  in  the  uniform  of  a  lackey,  shows 
us  his  writing-desk  stained  with  ink,  his  music- 
stand,  piano,  inkstand,  bookcase  filled  with  French 
books,  and  he  calls  our  attention  to  the  chairs 
and  sofas,  the  rich  silken  covers  of  which  show 
where  they  were  torn  and  scratched  by  the  claws 
and  the  teeth  of  the  king's  favorite  dogs,  and 
also  the  stains  of  the  plates  on  the  rich  silks,  from 
which  they  were  fed. 

Adjoining  the  king's  bedroom  was  a  private 
cabinet  with  double  doors,  which  could  be  used 
as  a  dining-room  or  a  room  for  private  conference 
on  national  or  state  affairs.  In  the  centre  of  the 
room  was  a  large-sized  centre-table,  so  arranged 
that  by  touching  a  secret  spring  it  could  be  made 
to  disappear  through  the  floor  to  the  regions 
below,  and  to  appear  again  at  the  will  of  the 
master  of  ceremonies  above.  Here  the  king 
could  hold  secret  audiences  and  dine  with  his 
officers  of  state  or  favorite  generals  without  (ear 
of  interruption  or  molestation.  When  plans  of 
coming  battles  were  being  arranged  or  state 
secrets  discussed,  there  need  be  no  lackeys  or  ser- 
vants present  as  eavesdroppers  to  catch  up  stray 
bits  of  important  information  and  scatter  them  to 
the  outside  world.  When  the  king  and  his  guests 
were  ready  to  be  served  with  dinner  he  signals 
below,  and  presto  !  change  !  the  floor  opens,  and 
the  table,  spread  with  the  richest  of  dinner  ser- 
vice and  loaded  with  sumptuous  dishes  fit  for  a 


22O  ITS    HISTORY    UNWRITTEN. 

Roman  epicure,  appears  as  if  by  magic.  At  the 
end  of  the  course  the  signal  is  given,  the  table  dis- 
appears, and  soon  comes  back  with  a  change  of 
meim  for  the  second  course  ;  and  so  on  throughout 
the  entertainment,  the  table  goes  and  comes  like 
a  scene  in  a  fairy  play,  without  disturbing  a  guest 
or  obliging  one  to  move  in  his  chair,  and  without 
a  servant  being  present. 

The  private  history  of  this  famous  room,  which 
has  never  been  published  and  probably  never  will 
be,  it  is  said,  would  reveal  chapters  of  intrigues, 
high  carnivals,  and  midnight  orgies  that  would 
make  the  world  blush,  —  scenes  in  which  not  only 
Frederick  the  Great,  but  all  the  kings  before  and 
after  him,  were  the  principal  participators,  and 
whose  companions  were  not  always  of  the  mascu- 
line sex  or  of  the  most  virtuous  reputations. 

Seated  in  our  carriage  once  more,  the  coachman 
turns  around  from  his  box  and  says  to  us,  "  Sans- 
Souci,"  and  after  a  ten  or  fifteen  minutes'  drive 
the  custodian  of  this  famous  and  historical  palace 
is  guiding  us  through  its  labyrinth  of  rooms.  It 
is  the  least  imposing  of  any  of  the  Potsdam  pal- 
aces, being  only  one  story  high  and  anything  but 
handsome  in  its  exterior  architectural  effect.  It 
was  built  by  Frederick  the  Great  in  the  year  1 746, 
and  history  says  that  during  the  king's  lifetime  it 
was  his  almost  constant  residence.  History  also 
says  that  he  resided  in  all  of  the  other  palaces  in 
Potsdam,  in  the  palaces  in  Berlin,  and  in  various 


SAXS-SOUCI.  221 

other  palaces  throughout  Prussia,  and  the  question 
presents  itself,  "  How  many  palaces  did  he  occupy 
at  the  same  time  ?" 

Sans-Souci  was  evidently  built  more  for  comfort 
than  for  show.  It  stands  on  an  eminence  which  is 
approached  by  a  flight  of  terraces,  that  leads  up 
to  it  from  the  beautiful  park  and  gardens  which 
make  Sans-Souci  so  famous.  At  the  extremity  of 
one  of  these  terraces  are  the  graves  of  his  favorite 
dogs,  and  his  war-horse  which  bore  him  through 
so  many  of  his  campaigns  and  battles. 

In  his  will  he  left  explicit  directions  to  be  buried 
among  these  his  favorites,  claiming  that  these  two 
representatives  of  the  brute  creation  were  the  only 
true  friends  that  man  had.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  injunction  in  the  will  was  not  heeded. 

The  rooms  of  the  palace  are  stored  with  relics 
of  the  great  king,  and  the  suite  of  apartments 
which  he  used  in  common,  including  the  room  in 
which  he  died,  are  preserved  with  their  contents 
as  he  left  them.  In  the  latter  room  is  the  clock 
which  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  winding  daily  for 
many  years  with  his  own  hand,  but  which,  being 
forgotten  at  last,  by  a  remarkable  coincidence 
stopped  at  the  moment  of  his  death,  and  the  hands 
still  record  the  hour  and  minutes, —  twenty  min- 
utes past  two  (i;th  August,  1786).  A  suite  of 
apartments  with  old-style  furniture,  and  near  those 
of  the  king,  are  pointed  out  as  being  those  so 
long  occupied  by  Voltaire,  who  for  many  years 


222  BEAUTIFUL    PARKS    AND    GARDENS. 

spent  a  good  share  of  his  time  at  Sans-Souci,. 
and  who  was  the  king's  almost  inseparable  com- 
panion. 

But  the  great  charm  of  Sans-Souci  and  the  prin- 
cipal attraction  that  draws  so  many  strangers  to 
Potsdam  are  the  beautiful  parks  and  gardens  con- 
nected with  the  palace,  and  which  are  pronounced 
by  many  to  be  the  finest  in  Europe. 

In  the  arrangement  of  the  grounds,  which  are  a 
network  of  labyrinthine  walks,  shady  retreats,  ter- 
races, artificial  lakes,  fountains,  etc.,  landscape 
gardening  is  carried  to  perfection.  There  seems 
to  be  no  end  of  pagodas,  temples,  towers,  statues, 
and  magnificent  fountains,  one  of  which  throws  a 
large  body  of  water  to  the  great  height  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet 

On  one  of  the  terraces  overlooking  the  gardens 
is  the  orangery,  a  beautiful  building  in  the  Floren- 
tine style  of  architecture,  which  is  over  one  thou- 
sand feet  long  and  ornamented  on  its  exterior  with 
fine  statuary. 

There  are  two  or  three  other  small  palaces  or 
royal  villas  in  the  neighborhood  which  time  will 
not  allow  us  to  visit,  nor  would  we  if  we  could.  To 
go  over  five  such  palaces  as  those  I  have  described 
is  enough  for  one  day  and  wearies  the  eye  with 
extravagance,  magnificence,  and  royalty.  These 
old  German  kings  were  always  crying  poverty  and 
were  always  in  financial  distress,  and  they  never 
ceased  taxing  the  poor  laboring  classes  and  trades- 


A    GERMAN    WEDDING.  22$ 

people  to  the  last  mark  for  money  to  refill  the 
ever-exhausted  royal  treasuries.  Yet  they  always 
had  millions  to  spare  in  building  enormous  pal- 
aces, and  they  were  always  building  them  and 
furnishing  them  at  millions  of  extra  expense, 
although  they  were  not  needed  and  of  no  earthly 
use  except  as  grand  show-houses  for  the  display  of 
royal  wealth  and  magnificence.  Had  one  half  the 
money  been  expended  in  developing  the  agricul- 
tural and  mineral  resources  of  the  country,  in 
building  manufactories,  and  in  encouraging  differ- 
ent kinds  of  industries,  Germany  would  not  be  the 
poverty-stricken  country  that  she  is  to-day,  with 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  laborers  and  mechan- 
ics for  want  of  bread  emigrating  to  America  every 
year,  and  its  millions  at  home  out  of  employment 
and  on  the  point  of  starvation. 

It  was  getting  late  in  the  afternoon  when  we 
had  completed  Sans-Souci  and  its  gardens,  and, 
having  an  hour  to  spare  before  the  departure  of 
our  train  for  Berlin,  we  told  the  coachman  to  take 
us  to  the  Garrison  church,  which  was  on  the  way 
to  the  station.  On  entering  the  sacred  old  edifice 
we  found  a  wedding  party  present,  and  before  the 
altar  stood  a  very  pretty  fraulein,  who  was  being 
transformed  into  -z.frau,  and  also  being  insepara- 
bly bound  for  life  to  a  stout-looking  German  who 
was  happy  and  smiling,  and  looked  as  if  he  was 
able  to  shield  and  protect  her  from  any  harm  that 
might  befall  her.  The  bridesmaids,  of  whom  there 


224  THE    GARRISON    CHURCH. 

were  several,  and  also  the  bride,  were  handsomely 
dressed  in  white,  with  long  trains,  and  their  heads 
encircled  with  wreaths  of  flowers. 

It  was  a  pretty  and  cheerful  sight,  although 
the  bride  part  of  the  time  during  the  long  and 
tedious  ceremony  was  shedding  tears  like  an 
April  shower. 

We  must  have  waited  over  half  an  hour  before 
the  ceremony  was  completed  and  the  last  of  the 
wedding  party  had  left  the  church.  Then  the 
pastor  who  had  officiated  at  the  marriage,  still 
dressed  in  his  clerical  robes,  came  and  showed  us 
around  the  interior  of  the  building,  pointing  out 
with  pride  the  names  of  brave  officers  who  had 
died  in  fighting  Prussia's  battles,  which  were  in- 
scribed on  tablets  hanging  from  the  walls,  and 
also  the  eagles  and  standards  taken  from  Napo- 
leon's armies,  that  were  drooping  from  over  the 
altar. 

Glancing  at  these  trophies  quickly  as  possible, 
the  pastor  proceeded  to  light  two  tallow  candles, 
and  unlocking  a  door  under  the  pulpit,  led  the 
way  into  a  little  room  apparently  not  over  ten  feet 
square.  The  flickering  light  from  the  candles 
revealed  two  plain,  coffin-shaped  caskets  resting 
on  the  floor,  in  one  of  which  rests  the  body  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  and  in  the  other  that  of  his 
cruel  and  tyrannical  father,  Frederick  William  I. 
The  caskets  have  no  name  plates,  but  the  pastor 
tells  us  that  the  smaller  of  the  two  contains  the 


THE    COFFINS    OF  "  OLD    FRITZ  "  AND    HIS    FATHER.      22$ 

body  of  "  old  Fritz,"  as  the  Germans  still  love  to 
call  their  great  commander. 

The  little  room- contains  nothing  else  but  the 
remains  of  these  two  historical  kings,  and  is  not 
this  enough?  The  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great 
originally  rested  on  his  casket,  but  was  carried  off 
by  Napoleon  when  he  occupied  Berlin,  and  all 
traces  of  it  were  lost  ever  after. 

It  was  a  privilege  certainly  to  be  permitted  to 
stand  in  the  presence  of  such  illustrious  dead,  — 
to  be  allowed  to  place  one's  hands  on  the  casket, 
—  the  smaller  of  the  two,  —  and  to  think  that  be- 
neath them  rested  all  that  is  mortal  of  one  of  the 
three  great  generals  of  modern  times,  and  the  idol 
of  Germany. 

He  had  a  strange  and  eventful  history,  this 
"  old  Fritz,"  and  one  that  was  full  of  romance 
and  hard  labor.  He  was  one  of  the  most  indus- 
trious of  men,  rising  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing and  never  retiring  until  midnight,  and  every 
moment  of  the  twenty  hours  being  passed  in  some 
active  bodily  or  mental  occupation. 

His  literary  works  alone,  separate  from  the  vast 
amount  of  his  other  labors,  amount  to  thirty  vol- 
umes. He  had  a  theory  that  man  could  do  with- 
out sleep,  and  he  tried  the  experiment,  and  tested 
it  thoroughly,  without  success.  During  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  he  became  so  economical  in  his 
personal  expenses  that  he  would  not  dress  de- 
cently. Although  he  had  money  to  build  palaces 


226  A    REGIMENT   OF    GIANTS. 

that  would  cost  millions  of  dollars,  yet  for  twenty- 
three  years  he  had  but  one  new  suit  of  clothes, 
and  wore  all  the  time  shabby  garments  and  snuffy 
old  waistcoats  that  were  made  in  the  early  part  of 
his  reign,  and  which  are  still  exhibited  in  the 
museums  all  over  Germany. 

At  his  death  it  was  found  that  he  had  not  a 
decent  shirt  to  be  buried  in,  and  he  was  put  into 
his  coffin — the  identical  coffin  before  me — in  a 
shirt  that  belonged  to  his  valet de  chambre.  As  I 
stand  gazing  at  the  casket,  and  recall  the  incidents 
of  his  remarkable  life,  his  wonderfully  successful 
military  career,  the  number  of  battles  he  won,  his 
talents  as  a  man  of  letters,  as  a  statesman,  and  the 
love  that  his  people  bore  him  as  a  kind  and  wise 
ruling  sovereign,  the  thought  at  last  occurs  to  me, 
"  Did  the  German  nation  ever  think  to  reimburse 
that  poor  valet  de  chambre  for  his  shirt  ?" 

In  the  large  casket  sleeps  the  king  who  had  a 
regiment  of  giants,  soldiers  seven  feet  high  and 
upward.  He  had  agents  all  over  Prussia  on  the 
watch  for  tall  and  powerful  men,  and  every  one 
that  was  found  who  would  come  up  to  the  stand- 
ard or  overreach  it,  was  forced  to  enlist  in  this 
famous  corps.  Very  tall  women,  Amazons  in  size 
and  strength,  were  also  captured,  and  compelled 
to  marry  these  tall  soldiers  for  the  purpose  of 
propagating  a  race  of  giants.  The  Prussian 
envoy  in  England  discovered  an  Irish  giant  in 
the  streets  of  London  and  induced  him  to  join  the 


TYRANNY    OF    FREDERICK    WILLIAM    I.  22J 

Prussian  army  by  a  cash  bounty  of  over  £6,000,  a 
larger  sum  than  the  envoy  was  receiving  for  his 
own  salary. 

In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  a  tyrant  of  the 
Worst  class,  and  once  came  near  having  his  son, 
afterwards  Frederick  the  Great,  whom  he  consid- 
ered during  his  boyhood  a  worthless  vagabond, 
executed  for  some  trifling  misdemeanor.  Before 
his  death  he  relented  of  his  cruelty,  having  dis- 
covered the  material  the  coming  king  was  made  of, 
and  almost  his  last  words  were,  "  My  God !  my 
God  !  I  die  content  since  I  have  such  a  noble 
son."  When  about  to  take  the  field  in  one  of  his 
early  campaigns  he  left  the  following  note  with 
his  privy  council :  — 

"  As  I  may  be  shot,  I  command  you  to  take 
good  care  of  Fritz  (then  three  years  old),  and  I 
give  all  of  you,  my  wife  to  begin  with,  my  curse, 
if  you  do  not  bury  me  at  Potsdam  in  the  church 
vault,  without  feasting  and  without  ceremony." 

The  threatened  curse  evidently  had  its  effect,  for 
here  he  sleeps  in  this  little  church  vault  side  by 
with  the  son  whose  early  life  he  made  miserable 
and  one  of  terror. 

As  we  pass  out  of  the  room,  for  it  has  not  the 
appearance  of  a  vault,  being  on  the  floor  of  the 
church,  and  directly  under  the  pulpit,  it  strikes 
me  how  insecure  would  be  the  place  with  its 
sacred  treasures  in  New  York,  or  in  any  of  the 
cities  of  our  great  and  enlightened  American 


228  BOLTS    AND    BARS    UNNECESSARY. 

Republic,  where  body-snatching  has  become  so 
common  that  the  tombs  of  our  great  men  as  well 
as  our  men  of  wealth  have  to  be  guarded  night 
and  day  with  loaded  muskets.  These  ordinary 
wooden  doors,  locked  with  an  ordinary-looking 
key,  would  be  poor  protection  from  such  ghouls 
as  attempted  to  carry  off  the  body  of  Lincoln  in 
hopes  of  a  great  reward. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

KAISER  WILLIAM.  —  CELEBRATION  OF  HIS  EIGHTY-FIFTH  BIRTH- 
DAY AT  BERLIN.  —  PUBLIC  REJOICINGS  THROUGHOUT  THE 
EMPIRE.  — ANECDOTE  OF  His  MAJESTY.  —  His  VISIT  TO  AN 
ORPHAN  ASYLUM.  —  BISMARCK  AND  GEN.  VON  MOLTKE.  — 
THE  RECEPTION  OF  THE  LATTER  AT  A  Swiss  HOTEL. 

BUT  few  of  the  European  sovereigns,  either 
kings  or  emperors,  while  "  wearing  the  pur- 
ple," have  reached  the  age  of  threescore  years 
and  ten.  Louis  XIV.  of  France  reached  the  age 
of  seventy-seven ;  and  Frederick  the  Great,  who 
in  his  latter  years  was  a  decrepit,  broken-down 
old  man,  hobbling  around  with  his  walking-stick, 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four;  and  these  were 
two  cases  of  rare  longevity  for  crowned  heads. 

Yesterday,  March  22,  1882,  all  Germany  cele- 
brated the  eighty-fifth  birthday  of  Emperor  Wil- 
liam, who  still  rules  over  forty  odd  millions  of  peo- 
ple, who  is  still  hale  and  hearty,  and  whose  mind 
and  intellect  are  as  bright  and  unimpaired  as  ever. 

Many  years  ago,  while  king  of  Prussia,  and 
long  before  he  was  crowned  Emperor  of  United 
Germany,  he  told  his  faithful  physician,  half  in 
jest  and  half  in  earnest,  that  if  he  would  carry  him 
through  to  the  age  of  seventy  he  would  give  him 
a  title.  Reaching  seventy  in  vigorous  health, 


23O  KAISER    WILLIAM. 

his  Majesty  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  conferred 
at  once  on  the  astonished  doctor  the  title  of  baron. 
He  then  promised  him  that  if  he  would,  by  watch- 
ful care,  prolong  his  life  ten  years  more,  he  would 
reward  him  with  a  still  higher  order  of  nobility ; 
so,  on  his  eightieth  birthday,  the  Emperor  made 
this  faithful  disciple  of  Esculapius  a  prince.  As 
the  next  step  above  a  prince  is  king,  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  his  Majesty  promised  a  still  higher 
reward  for  another  ten  years'  lease  of  life.  Pres- 
ent appearances  indicate,  however,  that,  with  care- 
ful nursing  and  conforming  strictly  to  the  laws  of 
health,  he  is  good  for  ten  or  fifteen  years  yet  be- 
fore joining  his  royal  ancestry  in  another  world. 
Although  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  one  hun- 
dredth year,  no  one  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Eu-- 
rope  is  more  watchful  over  the  interests  of  his 
subjects.  No  one  of  them  works  harder  or  devotes 
more  hours  to  official  business  than  the  aged  Em- 
peror. He  is  an  early  riser,  and  it  is  late  at  night 
—  often  among  the  small  hours  —  before  he  seeks 
his  couch.  He  accepts  invitations  to  dinners  and 
balls,  and  he  still  keeps  up  the  court  custom  of 
giving  balls  and  entertainments  at  his  palace,  at 
which  he  is  always  present  and  acts  the  host. 

Forenoons  he  devotes  to  the  affairs  of  state. 
His  reception-rooms  and  anterooms  are  crowded 
with  dignitaries,  army  officers  in  their  brilliant 
uniform,  ministers,  and  often  those  of  the  hum- 
blest walks  in  life,  all  waiting  to  get  a  word  with 


HIS    DAILY   DRIVES.  23! 

the  Emperor  or  to  transact  some  official  business. 
Afternoons,  when  the  weather  is  pleasant,  and 
occasionally  in  the  mornings,  he  can  be  seen  in 
an  open  cabriolet,  drawn  by  one  horse,  driving 
swiftly  through  the  Unter  den  Linden  or  one 
of  the  broad  avenues  of  the  Thier-Garten.  There 
are  no  outriders  and  no  signs  of  a  military  escort. 
Seated  with  the  driver  is  a  man  who  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  court  lackey,  who  wears  a  cocked 
hat  with  some  long  feathers  flowing  from  it  that 
have  some  time  adorned  a  rooster's  tail,  and  this 
unmilitary  looking  appendage  is  the  trade-mark 
of  royalty,  or  the  sign  that  there  is  royalty  in  the 
seat  behind.  The  Emperor  usually  wears  a  citi- 
zen's dress,  with  stove-pipe  hat,  though  at  times 
he  appears  in  a  half-military  dress,  with  the  spiked 
military  hat. 

His  well-known  features  are  recognized  at  once 
as  his  carriage  goes  dashing  by  through  the 
crowded  streets  or  the  shaded  avenues,  and  the 
myriads  of  people  on  the  sidewalks  that  are  hur- 
rying in  different  directions  stop  suddenly  as  if 
by  instinct  to  salute  their  Emperor,  by  facing 
about  and  uncovering  their  heads. 

During  the  military  reviews  last  autumn,  or 
what  is  known  as  the  "  army  manoeuvres,"  the  Em- 
peror was  for  several  days  in  his  saddle  from 
early  morning  till  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  so 
fully  was  every  moment  occupied  that  he  ate  his 
lunches  without  dismounting.  What  would  have 


232  FIDELITY   TO    HIS    COUNTRY. 

taxed  the  energies  and  exhausted  the  strength  of 
an  ordinary  individual  or  an  officer  much  younger 
in  years,  seemed  to  have  been  hardly  noticed  or 
felt  by  the  doughty  octogenarian. 

On  the  evening  of  the  afternoon  that  he  came 

O 

back  to  Berlin  from  the  manoeuvring  campaign 
there  was  to  be  a  grand  ball  at  the  palace,  which 
would  probably  deprive  him  of  the  greater  part 
of  his  night's  sleep.  As  soon  as  he  had  thrown 
off  his  military  coat  and  helmet,  and  partaken  of 
a  plate  of  soup,  he  sent  for  his  secretary  to  dictate 
answers  to  a  number  of  important  despatches  that 
had  been  awaiting  his  return.  His  friends  en- 
deavored to  persuade  him  to  take  a  few  hours' 
rest,  and  let  the  despatches  lie  over  until  the  fol- 
lowing day.  But  it  was  no  use. 

"  The  despatches  are  of  more  importance  to  my 
country  than  sleep  is  to  me,  and  I  will  rest  to-mor- 
row," said  the  Emperor,  and,  disappearing  with 
his  secretary  to  his  cabinet,  it  was  near  midnight 
before  he  had  accomplished  his  work  and  showed 
himself  to  the  assemblage  of  distinguished  guests 
that  had  gathered  in  the  brilliantly  lighted  saloons 
of  the  palace. 

In  celebration  of  his  birthday,  March  22,  1882, 
the  whole  city  had  the  appearance  of  a  sea  of  wav- 
ing flags.  It  was  a  grand  gala  day  for  the  Berlin- 
ers.  Many  of  the  public  and  private  buildings 
were  completely  hid  from  view  with  bunting,  flags, 
and  mottoes.  Notwithstanding  the  inclement 


PUBLIC   REJOICINGS.  233 

weather  —  which  was  anything  but  the  usual 
pleasant  "  Kaiser  weather  "  —  and  the  occasional 
downfall  of  rain,  the  sidewalks  were  thronged  with 
myriads  of  people  and  the  streets  with  countless 
equipages.  Everybody  had  a  holiday  or  half-holi- 
day ;  banks,  government  offices,  and  many  of  the 
places  of  business  were  closed,  and  the  people 
flocked  to  the  beer-gardens  and  concert-gardens 
and  to  the  beer-shops  by  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands,  where  they  sang  songs  and  drank  un- 
limited quantities  of  beer  to  the  good  health  and 
many  more  returns  of  the  happy  day  to  their  good 
Emperor. 

All  of  the  principal  hotels  were  monopolized 
by  the  army  officers,  whose  number  was  legion,  in 
celebrating  the  day  with  grand  banquets  and 
champagne  suppers.  According  to  custom,  the 
Emperor,  during  the  forenoon,  received  the  per- 
sonal congratulations  of  his  own  family  and  house- 
hold and  many  of  his  immediate  personal  friends, 
and  he  was  busy  a  long  time  in  reading  the  tele- 
graphic congratulations  that  poured  in  upon  him 
from  all  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  from  the 
Emperors  of  Russia  and  Austria,  from  the  kings 
of  Italy  and  Spain,  of  Sweden,  Denmark,  Belgium, 
Holland,  Portugal,  from  Queen  Victoria,  and  there 
were  a  thousand  or  more  telegrams  from  dukes  and 
princes,  heads  of  armies,  foreign  ambassadors,  etc. 
The  European  telegraph  lines  are  well  patron- 
ized by  royalty.  When  the  wires  are  not  kept 


234  RECEPTIONS    AND    FESTIVITIES. 

busy  by  the  crowned  heads  in  transmitting  de- 
spatches back  and  forth  congratulating  each  other 
on  their  preservation  and  escapes  from  attempted 
assassinations,  they  are  employed  in  acquainting 
each  other  of  royal  marriages,  of  the  birth  of  royal 
babies,  and  congratulations  on  royal  birthdays. 

At  twelve  o'clock  the  Emperor  received  his 
generals  and  admirals,  who  were  in  full-dress  uni- 
form, and  whose  breasts  were  covered  with  deco- 
rations and  orders  of  nobility.  With  the  heads 
of  the  army  and  navy  came  the  state  ministers, 
preceded  by  the  tall,  imposing  figure  of  Prince 
Bismarck,  who  wore  a  general's  uniform.  After 
these  came  the  grandees  of  the  empire,  rulers  and 
princes  of  the  smaller  kingdoms  and  principali- 
ties, to  shake  the  Emperor's  hand  and  wish  him 
good  health  and  many  returns  of  the  day.  In  the 
afternoon  there  was  the  customary  banquet  in  the 
splendid  dining-hall  of  the  palace,  at  which  there 
was  no  one  present  but  the  family  and  near  rela- 
tives of  the  Emperor.  In  the  evening  the  im- 
mense old  schloss  or  palace,  where  Frederick  the 
Great  was  born,  was  thrown  open  for  a  grand  ball 
and  reception.  Nearly  a  thousand  of  the  nobility 
and  elite  of  the  city  gathered  in  the  magnificent 
"  White  Room,"  which,  a  few  years  ago,  was  newly 
furnished  and  redecorated  at  such  an  enormous 
expense. 

Probably  a  more  brilliant  sight  was  never  wit- 
nessed in  Berlin  or  in  any  of  the  European  cap- 


THE  EMPEROR  "EVERY  INCH  A  KING."      235 

itals  than  this  famous  room  presented  when  the 
guests  had  all  assembled  and  the  festivities  of  the 
evening  were  at  their  height. 

It  was  long  after  midnight  when  the  dancing 
ceased  and  the  last  carriage  rolled  away  from  the 
palace  doors.  While  the  ball  and  reception  were 
taking  place  at  the  schloss,  Prince  Bismarck  was 
entertaining  the  whole  diplomatic  body  with  a 
grand  banquet  in  the  Congress  Hall  of  the  Radzi- 
well  Palace.  I  will  not  speak  of  other  grand  balls, 
banquets,  and  receptions  that  were  given  at  many 
of  the  hotels  and  at  the  houses  of  many  of  the  dis- 
tinguished and  wealthy  citizens  in  various  parts 
of  the  city  during  the  evening  in  celebrating  the 
day. 

And  not  only  were  all  these  festivities  going 
on  in  Berlin,  but  all  over  the  empire,  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  in  every  city,  town,  and  hamlet;  for 
the  old  Emperor  is  universally  loved  and  esteemed 
by  his  subjects,  and  they  delight  to  do  him  honor 
whenever  they  have  an  opportunity. 

Among  all  the  European  sovereigns  there  is 
none  of  them  who  has  that  commanding  presence 
or  who  "  looks  every  inch  a  king  "  as  does  Kaiser 
William.  He  has  been  a  splendid  man  in  his 
day,  and  he  still  retains  the  handsome,  noble  fea- 
tures which  have  always  distinguished  him  from 
his  royal  colleagues  and  which  he  inherited  from 
his  royal  ancestry.  His  mother,  Queen  Louise, 
was  said  to  have  been  the  handsomest  lady  in 


236  VISIT    TO    A    CHARITY    SCHOOL. 

Europe,  and  there  is  probably  not  to  be  found  in 
all  Germany  an  artist's  studio  or  a  print-shop  win- 
dow but  what  contains  a  picture  of  some  kind 
of  this  famous  beauty. 

In  looks  and  stature  the  Kaiser  reminds  one  of 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott.  He  is  six  feet  six  in  height, 
well  proportioned,  and  must  weigh  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  If  a 
menagerie  of  sovereigns  were  to  be  placed  on  ex- 
hibition, and  the  different  crowned  heads  were 
made  to  represent  or  likened  to  different  animals, 
the  German  monarch  would  well  represent  the 
Asiatic  lion  or  the  royal  Bengal  tiger  of  the  col- 
lection. 

One  hears  at  such  a  time  as  this  many  interest- 
ing anecdotes  of  his  Majesty,  and  I  was  much 
pleased  with  one,  told  me  by  an  American  friend, 
who  was  at  Ems  a  few  weeks  since,  at  the  same 
time  the  Emperor  was  there  to  drink  the  waters. 
During  his  stay  at  the  fashionable  watering-place 
he  paid  a  visit  to  a  large  orphan  asylum  and 
school  that  was  under  government  patronage. 
Of  course  the  presence  of  so  distinguished  a  per- 
sonage, as  might  be  expected,  created  quite  a 
sensation  in  the  establishment.  After  listening 
with  much  interest  to  the  recitations  of  several 
of  the  classes,  his  Majesty  called  to  him  a  bright, 
flaxen-haired  little  girl  of  five  or  six  years  of  age, 
and,  lifting  her  into  his  lap,  said  to  her:  — 

"  Now,  my  little  fraulein,  let  me  see  how  well 


THE    FOUR    KINGDOMS.  237 

you  have  been  taught.  To  what  kingdom  does 
this  belong  ?  "  And,  taking  out  of  his  pocket  an 
orange,  he  held  it  up  to  her. 

The  little  girl  hesitated  a  moment,  and,  looking 
timidly  up  in  the  Emperor's  face,  replied,  "  To 
the  vegetable  kingdom." 

"  Very  good,  my  little  fraulein  ;  and  now  to  what 
kingdom  does  this  belong?''  And  he  drew  out  of 
his  pocket  a  gold  piece  and  placed  it  on  the 
orange. 

Again  the  little  girl  hesitated,  but  soon  replied, 
"  To  the  mineral  kingdom." 

"  Better  and  better,"  said  the  Emperor.  "  Now 
look  at  me  and  say  to  me  what  kingdom  I  be- 
long." At  this  question  there  was  an  ominous 
silence  among  the  teachers  and  visitors,  who  were 
listening  with  much  interest  to  the  royal  catechism. 
Could  she  make  any  other  reply  than,  "  To  the 
animal  kingdom  "  ? 

The  little  girl  hesitated  long,  as  if  perplexed  as 
to  what  answer  she  would  give.  Was  the  Em- 
peror an  animal  ?  Her  eyes  sought  those  of  her 
teachers  and  her  schoolmates.  Then  she  looked 
up  into  the  eyes  of  the  aged  Emperor,  and,  with  a 
half-startled,  frightened  look,  as  if  she  was  evad- 
ing the  question,  replied,  "  To  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

The  unexpected  answer  drew  tears  from  the 
Emperor. 

"Yes,  yes,  my  little  fraulein,  I  trust  I  do  belong  to 


238     THE  TWO  GREAT  NOTABLES  OF  BERLIN. 

God's  kingdom;  and  you  think  it  is  time  I  was  there 
now,  do  you  not  ?  and  the  day  is  not  far  distant." 

The  two  great  notables  of  Berlin,  outside  of  the 
royal  family,  are  Prince  Bismarck  and  Von  Moltke. 
Probably  no  two  men  of  this  generation  or  age 
will  leave  such  distinguished  reputations  behind 
them  as  these  two  men,  —  one  as  a  great  states- 
man, and  the  other  as  the  great  military  strategist 
of  the  age.  It  is  very  seldom  that  strangers,  or 
even  Berliners,  get  a  glimpse  of  Bismarck  in 
the  streets,  as  he  is  seclusive  in  his  habits,  and 
only  goes  out  in  a  close  carriage.  Most  every 
day,  however,  Von  Moltke  can  be  seen  on  the 
Unter  den  Linden,  in  his  military  cap  and  half- 
military  dress,  walking  back  and  forth  on  the  side- 
walks, his  hands  clasped  behind  him,  and  busy 
staring  into  the  shop-windows  or  returning  the 
salutes  of  army  officers.  He  has  got  to  be  an  old 
man  in  appearance,  though  not  as  old  as  the  Em- 
peror by  many  years.  He  is  clean  shaved,  and 
does  not  even  wear  a  mustache.  When  he  is 
travelling  or  away  from  home  on  a  pleasure  trip 
he  wears  nothing  in  his  dress  to  distinguish  him 
as  a  military  man.  Last  summer  he  took  a  run 
down  to  Switzerland,  and  at  some  of  the  hotels 
he  revealed  his  identity  and  at  others  he  was 
incognito.  His  travelling  experience,  as  related  by 
his  friends,  and  his  want  of  pride  in  his  personal 
appearance,  remind  one  of  the  stories  that  used 
to  be  told  of  Horace  Greeley. 


ANECDOTE   OF    VON    MOLTKE.  239 

During  his  Swiss  tour  he  arrived  one  afternoon 
at  Ragatz  in  the  Engardine.  As  the  hotel  at  which 
he  was  to  stop  was  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
office  where  he  was  left  by  the  diligence,  he  started 
off  with  his  travelling-bag  in  his  hand  instead  of 
waiting  to  be  transported  in  a  carriage. 

When  he  appeared  before  the  landlord  and  asked 
for  a  room,  he  looked  fatigued,  dusty,  and  decid- 
edly travel-worn,  and  the  landlord  was  on  the  point 
of  telling  him  that  he  had  no  rooms  to  spare.  He 
finally  told  the  waiter  to  show  "  the  old  man  "  to 
a  small  room  in  the  upper  story  of  the  house,  and, 
after  toiling  up  several  flights  of  stairs  and  through 
several  long,  narrow  halls,  the  great  general  was 
ushered  into  a  room  which  looked  as  if  it  belonged 
to  a  hospital  ward.  The  waiter  left  him  there, 
and,  after  a  short  absence,  made  his  appearance 
again  with  a  little  book  and  asked  the  new  arrival 
to  inscribe  his  name. 

It  was  quickly  done,  and  the  waiter  made  his 
exit  again.  What  was  the  landlord's  astonish- 
ment  on  taking  the  book  and  reading  the  name, 
41  Field  Marshal  von  Moltke,  Berlin."  There  was 
a  commotion  in  the  hotel  at  once.  "  My  God  ! 
said  the  landlord,  wringing  his  hands,  "  what  have 
I  done  ?  I  have  put  the  great  general  in  one  of 
the  servants'  bedrooms ;  my  hotel  will  be  ruined." 
And  he  flew  about  as  if  he  was  half  crazy.  All  the 
waiters  in  the  hotel  were  summoned,  the  hand- 
somest suite  of  rooms  in  the  house  was  ordered  to 


24O  RECEPTION    AT    A    SWISS    HOTEL. 

be  put  in  immediate  readiness,  and  the  conscience- 
stricken  landlord  departed  for  the  upper  regions 
to  make  his  apologies  to  the  seedy-looking  "  old 
man,"  and  to  transfer  him  to  more  elegant  quar- 
ters befitting  his  rank  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
hotel. 

"  I  beg  your  Excellency  ten  thousand  pardons. 
I  would  not  have  done  it  for  the  world,  but  I  did 
not  know  that  it  was  your  Excellency,  —  ten  thou- 
sand pardons,"  said  the  quaking  landlord,  half  out 
of  breath. 

"  But  what  have  you  done  that  you  should  need 
to  be  pardoned  ?  "  asked  the  general. 

"  This  room,  —  it  is  not  the  room  for  your  Excel- 
lency. It  was  a  mistake.  I  did  not  know  it  was 
Gen.  von  Moltke.  I  have  rooms  for  you  below, — 
an  elegant  suite  of  rooms, — may  I  beg  you  to 
have  your  baggage  removed  to  them  at  once  ? " 

"  May  I  ask  what  is  the  matter  with  this  room  ?  " 
inquired  the  general,  who  had  stripped  off  his  coat 
and  vest  and  rolled  up  his  shirt-sleeves  preparatory 
to  taking  a  wash  after  his  dusty  journey ;  "  I  have 
slept  for  years  in  quarters  not  so  good  or  comfort- 
able as  this." 

"  It  is  too  small  for  your  Excellency,  and  the  fur- 
niture is  too  ordinary.  The  rooms  which  I  have 
for  you  below  are  those  which  I  reserve  for  princes 
and  distinguished  guests." 

"  What  is  the  price  of  them  ?  "  inquired  the  gen- 
eral. 


A    HUNDRED    FRANCS    TOO    MUCH.  24! 

"  Only  one  hundred  francs  a  day,  your  Excel 
lency." 

"  And  the  price  of  this  room  is  how  much  ?  " 
"  A  bagatelle,  your  Excellency,  but  three  francs." 
"  Well,  as  my  stay  in  Ragatz  is  short,  you  must 
excuse  me  if  I  do  not  change  my  quarters.  I  think 
I  shall  sleep  as  sound  on  that  bed  as  on  any  bed 
in  your  house."  And  the  great  military  strategist, 
whose  military  genius  had  more  to  do  in  bringing 
about  the  great  victories  in  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  than  any  one  else,  was  allowed  to  remain  un- 
disturbed, much  to  the  annoyance  and  chagrin  of 
the  landlord. 


CHAPTER     XXII. 

THE  DRESDEN  PICTURE  GALLERY.  —  ITS  WONDERFUL  COLLEC- 
TION OF  PAINTINGS.  —  STORY  OF  THE  SISTINE  MADONNA. — 
FEMALE  MODELS  WHO  SAT  FOR  SCRIPTURE  REPRESENTA- 
TIONS NOT  ALWAYS  OF  THE  MOST  VIRTUOUS  REPUTATION.  — 

HOLBEIN'S  MADONNA.  —  "ORIGINALS"  FROM  THE  "OLD 
MASTERS  "  GETTING  MIXED  UP  AND  CONFOUNDED  WITH 
COPIES.  —  HOW  IRREVERENT  AMERICAN  YOUTHS  "  DO  "  THE 
FOREIGN  PICTURE  GALLERIES. 

THE  great  attraction  of  Dresden  is  the  royal 
picture  gallery,  which  draws  thousands  of 
visitors  year  after  year  to  this  gay  capital  of  Sax- 
ony. By  many  it  is  considered  the  finest  collec- 
tion in  Europe,  —  better  than  either  of  the  many 
galleries  in  Italy,  better  than  the  Louvre  at  Paris, 
or  even  the  magnificent  collection  at  Madrid.  I 
see  by  the  catalogue  last  issued  —  two  years  ago 
—  that  the  gallery  then  contained  2,313  paintings, 
and,  as  additions  are  constantly  being  made,  it 
must  number  at  the  present  time  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  twenty-five  hundred. 

The  elegant  building  which  contains  this  rare 
collection,  and  which  was  erected  purposely  for  it 
about  thirty  years  ago,  is  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  long,  one  hundred  feet  wide,  and  about 
one  hundred  feet  high,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  archi- 
tectural buildings  in  its  exterior  appearance  of  any 


THE    DRESDEN    PICTURE   GALLERY.  243 

of  the  many  beautiful  buildings  in  the  city.  But 
the  great  charm,  of  course,  is  in  the  interior;  and 
the  stranger,  as  he  enters  the  building  for  the  first 
time  and  passes  up  the  broad  flight  of  steps  to  the 
second  floor,  is  greeted  with  a  vision,  if  I  may  so 
call  it,  which  he  will  ever  remember.  Here  a 
succession  of  magnificent  halls,  opening  one  into 
another  the  full  length  of  the  building,  reveals  to 
the  astonished,  entranced  beholder  a  scene  of 
beauty,  enchantment,  and  wonderment  such  as  he 
has  never  seen  before. 

The  walls  are  covered  with  the  creations  of  the 
great  masters  on  canvas,  whose  colors  are  as  bright 
and  beautiful  as  when  put  on  by  the  almost  in- 
spired hands  centuries  ago. 

There  is  a  strange  mingling  of  the  living,  the 
dying,  and  the  dead  with  different  subjects  that 
stand  out  from  the  canvas.  Every  passion  of  the 
human  heart  is  portrayed  with  wonderful  power 
and  effect. 

So  great  is  the  number  of  Scriptural  scenes  that 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  seem  to  be  illus- 
trated from  beginning  to  end.  Many  of  these 
paintings  are  anything  but  pleasing  to  the  eye  or 
quieting  to  the  nerves,  and  one  grows  not  only 
weary  but  almost  heartsick  with  looking  at  so 
many  crucifixions,  dead  Christs,  martyrdoms, 
ghastly  heads  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Massa- 
cre of  the  Innocents,  etc.  But  all  of  the  paintings, 
thank  heaven  !  are  not  confined  to  these  gloomy 


244  THE    SISTINE    MADONNA. 

and  repulsive  subjects.  There  are  many  of  the 
beautiful  landscapes  and  sea  views  painted  by 
Claude  Lorraine,  Ruysdael,  and  others.  There 
are  charming  rural  scenes  and  interiors  painted 
by  Wouverman,  Gerard  Dow,  Teniers,  and 
many  others  famous  in  the  old  Dutch  school. 
There  are  many  of  Snyders's  famous  game  and 
fruit  pieces,  while  the  walls  of  one  of  the  halls 
seem  as  if  springing  to  life  with  Rubens's  cele- 
brated paintings  of  "  The  Lion  Hunt,"  "  Diana  and 
her  Nymphs  returning  from  the  Chase,"  "  Her- 
cules Intoxicated,"  "  A  Wild  Boar  Hunt,"  "  The 
Garden  of  Love,"  and  many  others. 

In  all  this  vast  collection  of  paintings  there  is 
but  one  which  is  the  work  of  the  great  Raphael, 
and  this  is  the  renowned  "  Madonna  di  San  Sisto," 
which  is  known  the  world  over  by  the  numberless 
copies,  engravings,  photographs,  chromos,  etc., 
that  have  made  it  so  familiar  to  every  eye.  Here 
in  Dresden  one  grows  weary  in  seeing  these 
copies  on  canvas,  porcelain,  wood,  and  paper  at 
every  turn.  They  stare  at  you  from  every  shop- 
window  through  miles  of  streets,  until  one  is  ready 
to  exclaim,  "  Good  Lord,  deliver  us  "  from  ever 
seeing  the  picture  again.  But  it  is  the  white 
elephant  of  the  Dresden  gallery,  and  no  Eastern 
prince  or  grand  mogul  ever  worshipped  or  treas- 
ured one  of  those  sacred  animals  more  sincerely 
than  the  king  of  Saxony  and  the  Dresden  people 
worship  and  treasure  this  famous  painting.  Al- 


THE  "WHITE  ELEPHANT"  OF  THE  GALLERY.     245 

though  the  only  veritable  work  that  the  gallery 
possesses  that  has  come  from  the  great  painter's 
brush,  yet  it  is  of  priceless  value,  and  its  world- 
wide celebrity  and  the  wonderful  and  mysterious 
beauty  accredited  to  it  more  than  atone  for  the 
absence  of  other  specimens  from  the  same  hand. 

A  large  room  in  one  end  of  the  gallery,  ele- 
gantly furnished,  and  with  wall  sofas  richly  up- 
holstered in  green  plush,  is  devoted  exclusively  to 
the  exhibition  of  this  one  painting.  It  is  seldom 
that  there  is  not  a  crowd  of  people  seated  around 
it,  some  gazing  upon  it  with  mute  reverence  and 
admiration,  and  others  viewing  it  long  and  criti- 
cally, endeavoring  to  discover  the  hidden  charm 
and  beauty  which  give  the  picture  such  a  won- 
derful celebrity.  The  figures  are  life-size,  and  the 
canvas  on  which  they  are  painted  is  about  eight 
and  half  feet  high  by  six  and  a  half  feet  wide. 
The  frame  is  of  gray  oak,  heavily  panelled  and 
richly  ornamented.  Raphael  painted  it  for  the 
altar  of  the  black  friar's  monastery  in  Piacenza,  a 
small  town  in  Italy,  about  the  year  1515,  which 
would  make  the  picture  now  in  the  neighborhood 
of  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  years  old.  There 
it  remained  in  the  old  monastery  until  1753,  when 
King  Richard  III.  of  Saxony,  through  an  agent, 
purchased  it  for  60,000  thalers,  or  about  $45,000. 

The  Saxon  government  has  been  approached 
several  times  by  agents  from  other  European  gov- 
ernments and  even  by  speculators,  with  the  object 


246  UNSENTIMENTAL    CRITICISMS. 

of  purchasing  this  rare  treasure.  A  million  dol- 
lars and  even  more  have  been  offered  for  it,  but 
offered  in  vain,  as  the  painting  is  not  for  sale  at 
any  price,  nor  would  the  Saxon  government  allow 
it  to  go  out  of  Dresden. 

It  needs  a  vast  amount  of  sentiment  and  imagi- 
nation, and  still  more  of  the  superstition  and 
religious  fervor  of  the  Middle  Ages,  to  fully  appre- 
ciate the  painting  and  go  into  raptures,  as  many 
do,  over  it.  No  two  persons  look  upon  it  alike. 
One  says  that  its  great  merit  and  hidden  power 
lie  in  the  face  and  expression  of  the  Madonna. 
Another  sees  in  the  face  of  the  child  Jesus  a  look 
and  expression  beyond  the  human,  —  a  troubled, 
anxious  look,  as  if  He  were  peering  into  the  fu- 
ture, and  that  all  the  cares  and  sorrows  he  was  to 
endure  and  the  agonies  of  the  crucifixion  were 
weighing  upon  him.  Others  still  see  nothing 
wonderful  in  the  painting,  —  nothing  to  admire 
but  the  two  fat-winged  cherubs,  which  they  declare 
look  as  if  they  were  calculating  the  height  of  a 
garden  wall  near  by,  in  the  hopes  of  getting  at  the 
fruit  on  the  other  side. 

The  unsentimental  and  those  who  have  not  the 
religious  enthusiasm  of  the  Crusaders  gather  no 
inspiration  from  the  painting.  They  wickedly 
declare  that  the  painful,  troubled  look  on  the  face 
of  the  infant  Jesus  was  painted  from  the  model  of 
a  child  which  was  suffering  from  a  stomach  over- 
laden with  green  apples,  and  that  the  Madonna  is 


FEMALE    MODELS    OF   THE   OLD    MASTERS.  247 

a  typical  caricature  of  an  Italian  housewife  whose 
money  is  exhausted,  and  who  has  nothing  where- 
with to  buy  her  husband's  dinner  on  the  morrow. 

All  of  the  old  masters  painted  from  living 
models,  and  many  of  the  women  who  posed  in  the 
artists'  studios  to  represent  the  sacred  characters 
of  saints,  virgins,  Madonnas,  etc.,  in  their  great 
Scriptural  paintings,  were  picked  up  at  haphazard, 
and  many  of  them  were  of  that  same  class  of 
doubtful  characters  that  John  Calvin,  at  Geneva, 
caused  to  be  sewed  up  in  bags  and  cast  into  the 
waters  of  Lake  Leman.  It  is  said  that  the  model 
Raphael  selected  for  the  Sistine  Madonna  was  a 
comely  looking  peasant-woman  of  middle  age,  who 
first  underwent  a  transformation  scene  by  the  aid 
of  soap  and  water  before  having  her  form  and 
features  transferred  to  canvas  by  the  great  master. 

I  do  not  propose  to  criticise  this  famous  paint- 
ing. I  should  probably  think  more  of  it  and  hold 
it  in  greater  reverence  had  I  not  seen  several 
million  copies  of  it  all  over  Europe. 

"  Familiarity,"  they  say,  "  breeds  contempt,"  and 
this  may  be  the  reason  that  I  find  it  impossible  to 
go  into  raptures  over  the  picture,  or  even  to  ad- 
mire it  as  much  as  thousands  do.  So  great  is  its 
reputation  (principally  from  the  fact  that  Raphael 
painted  it,  or  is  supposed  to  have  painted  it,  for 
its  authenticity  as  an  original  is  doubted  by  many) 
that  I  have  no  doubt,  if  purchased  for  a  million 
dollars  by  a  Yankee  speculator,  it  would  undoubt- 


248  HOLBEIN'S  MADONNA. 

edly  prove  a  splendid  investment,  a  bonanza  of 
wealth,  by  taking  it  to  America  on  exhibition,  so 
great  would  be  the  desire  to  see  this  famous  work 
of  the  great  Italian  master.  And  yet  I  venture 
to  say,  had  the  same  painting  been  discovered  a 
fortnight  since  among  a  lot  of  worthless  trash  in 
a  second-hand  Jew  shop,  with  the  name  of  some 
unknown  John  Schmidt  or  Hans  Schultze  attached 
to  it  as  the  painter,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
sale  for  it  at  one  hundred  dollars. 

The  picture  in  the  gallery  prized  next  to  the 
Sistine  Madonna  is  the  Holbein  Madonna,  which 
the  great  artist  painted  for  Jacob  Meyer,  the  bur- 
gomaster of  Basle,  who  with  his  family  are  repre- 
sented in  the  picture  as  under  the  protection  of 
the  Virgin.  There  is  a  little  naked  child  of  two 
or  three  years  of  age  standing  at  the  feet  of  the 
Virgin,  while  she  is  holding  another  child  in  her 
arms  apparently  of  the  same  age  and  bearing  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  one  at  her  feet.  There 
has  long  been  a  controversy  among  art  critics  and 
others  as  to  which  was  intended  for  the  child  Jesus 
and  which  the  little  Meyer. 

The  painting  is  less  than  two  thirds  the  size 
of  Raphael's  Sistine  Madonna,  and,  like  that  mas- 
terpiece, occupies  an  elegant  room  in  the  gallery 
almost  exclusively  itself.  And  there  are  doubts 
of  this  famous  picture  being  a  veritable  Holbein. 
The  picture  gallery  in  Darmstadt  claims  to  have 
the  original,  of  which  the  one  in  the  Dresden  gal- 


"  ORIGINALS       SADLY    MIXED.  249 

lery  is  a  counterfeit,  while  the  Dresdeners  claim 
the  reverse,  so  that  it  is  not  really  known  which 
is  the  original  and  which  the  copy. 

The  originals  by  the  old  masters,  whose  prolific 
brushes  turned  out  such  vast  numbers  of  paint- 
ings two,  three,  and  four  hundred  years  ago,  have 
become  sadly  mixed  with  the  numberless  copies 
made  of  them  by  their  pupils  and  others,  many 
of  which  are  far  better  than  those  that  came  from 
the  masters'  hands.  These  copies,  together  with 
the  originals,  which  have  been  handed  down  from 
past  centuries,  have  become  so  worn  and  the  col- 
ors so  mellowed  by  age  that  it  is  almost  an  impos- 
sibility to  detect  the  one  from  the  other. 

With  the  exception  of  the  picture  gallery  in 
Parma,  Italy,  the  Dresden  gallery  has  the  largest 
and  finest  collection  of  Correggio's  works.  Here 
is  his  world-renowned  picture  of  the  "Adoration  of 
the  Shepherds,"  and  known  as  "  La  Notte," —  the 
night, —  and  in  one  of  the  small  cabinet  rooms  is 
the  famous  "  Magdalene  Reading,"  which  during 
the  past  few  years  has  been  so  much  copied  on 
porcelain,  canvas,  and  paper.  The  picture  is  quite 
small,  only  twelve  by  twenty  inches,  and  painted 
on  copper.  So  much  is  this  picture  coveted  that 
it  was  stolen  from  the  gallery  a  few  years  ago,  but 
eventually  recovered  after  a  long  search  and  heavy 
rewards  being  offered  for  its  restoration.  The  gal- 
lery also  contains  nineteen  of  Vandyck's  most  cel- 
ebrated paintings,  including  his  "  Silenus  Intoxi- 


25O          TREASURES  OF  THE  GALLERY. 

cated  led  by  Bacchantes,"  portrait  of  King  Charles 
I.,  of  England,  and  also  the  portraits  of  the  three 
children  of  King  Charles  I.  painted  in  a  group, 
"Jupiter  descending  as  a  Shower  of  Gold  in  Danse's 
Bedchamber,"  and  a  portrait  of  the  old  Scotch- 
man, Thomas  Parr,  painted  in  his  one  hundred 
and  fifty-first  year,  whose  face  looks  like  a  piece  of 
wrinkled  parchment. 

The  wealth  of  the  gallery  in  its  paintings  by  the 
old  masters  can  be  partly  realized  when  I  state 
that  it  contains  twenty  Rembrandts;  ten  Titians, 
including  his  famous  "  Tribute  Money"  and  "  Cupid 
crowning  Venus  with  a  Wreath  " ;  thirty-five  Ru- 
bens; eighteen  Paul  Veroneses,  including  the 
"  Susannah  at  the  Bath,"  "  The  Adoration  of  the 
Magi,"  "The  Marriage  at  Cana,"  "Venus  and 
Adonis,"  etc.;  ten  Guido  Renis;  thirteen  Riberas; 
three  of  Velasquez ;  two  Murillos;  three  Domini- 
chinos ;  five  Andrea  del  Sartos ;  eight  Tintoret- 
tos ;  six  Poussins ;  eleven  Snyders ;  thirty-one  of 
Teniers;  seven  Holbeins;  six  Albert  Durers;  four 
Salvator  Rosas ;  fourteen  Ruysdaels ;  three  Paul 
Potters;  four  Cuyps ;  three  Angelica  Kaufmanns; 
sixteen  Gerard  Dows ;  forty-five  Lucas  Cra- 
nachs ;  sixteen  Vanderwerffs,  which  include  his 
celebrated  "  Expulsion  of  Hagar,"  one  of  the  gems 
of  the  gallery,  also  his  "  Magdalene,"  "  Lot  and  his 
Daughters,"  "Judgment  of  Paris,"  "A  Hermit 
before  his  Cell,"  "  Diogenes  with  his  Lantern  look- 
ing for  an  Honest  Man,"  all  of  which  have  world- 


ITS    FABULOUS    WEALTH   IN    PAINTINGS.  25! 

wide  reputations ;  and  there  are  sixty-six  paintings, 
most  of  them  of  small  size,  of  the  celebrated  Dutch 
painter  Wouverman,  in  every  one  of  which  the 
artist  preserved  his  identity  by  introducing  a 
white  or  dapple-gray  horse,  in  the  rural  and  out- 
of-door  scenes,  which  he  has  portrayed  with  such 
wonderful  fidelity  and  beauty.  All  the  great  mas- 
ters of  the  Florentine,  Venetian,  Roman,  Bologn- 
ese,  Spanish,  Flemish,  Dutch,  and  German  schools, 
with  a  few  of  the  French,  are  represented  on  the 
walls  of  this  famous  gallery  by  more  or  less  of  their 
productions. 

The  fabulous  wealth  of  such  a  collection  as  this 
is  almost  beyond  belief.  To  possess  any  one  of  the 
paintings  by  the  most  celebrated  of  the  old  masters 
is  a  fortune  in  itself,  and  this  magnificent  collec- 
tion is  open  to  the  public,  and  free  alike  to  peas- 
ant and  prince. 

It  is  amusing  to  linger  in  the  gallery,  to  stand 
by  the  different  groups  of  people  and  observe  the 
different  impressions  that  the  pictures  make  upon 
them,  and  to  hear  •  their  criticisms  as  to  their  mer- 
its or  dements,  what  they  represent,  or  what  they 
are  supposed  to  represent. 

Some  will  stop  before  a  picture  and  study  it  by 
the  hour,  and  will  be  days  and  even  weeks  in  ex- 
amining the  whole  collection  thoroughly.  Others 
will  go  through  the  gallery  in  thirty  minutes  and 
scarcely  glance  at  a  tenth  part  it  contains. 

Americans  always  seem  to  be  in  the  greatest 


252  IRREVERENT    AMERICAN    YOUTH. 

hurry  to  get  through  it  and  do  it  in  the  shortest 
time. 

I  saw  two  young  Americans,  a  few  days  since, 
with  memorandum  books  in  their  hands,  rushing 
about  in  the  gallery  and  hastily  glancing  at  the 
paintings,  as  if  they  were  taking  an  inventory  of 
the  number  and  had  but  a  few  minutes  to  do  it 
in.  My  attention  was  first  attracted  to  them  by 
hearing  one  call  out  to  the  other  who  was  some 
distance  from  him,  "  Hallo !  Jim,  here  is  another 
Venus,  this  makes  fifty-seven  of  the  divinities." 
And  I  saw  him  proceed  to  note  down  in  his  mem- 
orandum book,  probably  under  the  class  of  "Ve- 
nuses,"  the  number  fifty-seven. 

By  this  time  "  Jim  "  came  hurrying  up,  and, 
glancing  at  the  picture  before  them,  exclaimed, 
"  Thunder,  no !  that  is  not  a  Venus,  it  has  got  too 
many  clothes  on  !  " 

"  Well,  if  it  is  not  a  Venus,  what  is  it,  then  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,  exactly,"  answered  Jim,  looking 
at  it  more  critically ;  "  I  should  take  it  to  be  a 
Magdalene,  or  a  saint,  or  a  Madonna,  or  some  one 
of  those  Scripture  girls  who  had  n't  time  to  fully 
dress  herself.  Put  it  under  the  Virgins." 

Moving  ahead  they  came  in  front  of  a  fine 
painting  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian,  who 
is  represented  with  a  smiling,  contented  face,  not- 
withstanding his  being  pierced  with  a  score  of 
arrows.  I  heard  "  Jim  "  ask  his  friend,  "  How 
many  St.  Sebastians  have  you  got  down  ?  " 


KEEPING  TALLY  OF  "OLD  MASTERS. 

"  I  don't  know ;  I  lost  my  tally  of  Sebastians 
down  at  Munich,  but  I  think  I  must  have  nearly 
a  thousand  Virgin  Marys  and  dead  Christs  by 
this  time."  And  in  a  few  moments  the  two  young 
travellers,  who  were  evidently  gathering  statistics 
as  to  the  number  of  certain  pictures  painted  by 
the  old  masters,  disappeared  among  the  crowd  of 
visitors,  and  I  saw  them  no  more. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ORDER  OF  THE  GARTER.  —  SAXONY'S  KING  INVESTED  WITH  ITS 
GORGEOUS  INSIGNIA.  —  OSTENTATIOUS  PROCESSION  OF  ROY- 
ALTY AND  NOBILITY.  —  THE  CEREMONIES  REMINDING  ONE 
OF  A  SCENE  FROM  ONE  OF  SHAKESPEARE'S  PLAYS.  —  SIG- 
NIFICANCE OF  THE  GIFT.  —  HISTORY  OF  THE  ORDER. 

IT  has  been  many  a  year  since  Dresden,  the 
gay  and  fashionable  capital  of  the  kingdom 
of  Saxony,  has  undergone  the  excitement  that  has 
recently  prevailed  in  the  city,  and  which  was  oc- 
casioned by  the  ceremonies  attending  the  inves- 
titure of  his  Majesty  the  king  with  the  order  of 
the  Knight  of  the  Garter.  An  embassy  selected 
by  Queen  Victoria  from  the  English  peerage  to 
perform  the  royal  ceremony  arrived  from  England 
a  short  time  ago,  and,  during  their  stay  in  the 
Saxon  capital,  the  members  have  been  the  king's 
guests.  It  was  but  a  few  weeks  or  months  since 
that  a  similar  embassy  of  English  noblemen,  at- 
tended by  a  large  retinue  of  servants  and  followers, 
was  sent  at  an  enormous  expense  to  Spain  to 
invest  the  young  King  Alfonso  with  the  same 
orders  of  royalty. 

The  order  of  the  Garter  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  honorable  of  the  many  illustrious  orders 
which  a  British  sovereign  has  the  power  to  bestow 


ORDER    OF    THE   GARTER:     ITS    HISTORY.  255 

on  a  subject  or  a  royal  colleague.  It  has  a  long 
history,  dating  back,  according  to  some  accounts, 
to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  But  the 
most  reliable  authority  says  that  it  was  first  insti- 
tuted by  Edward  III.,  in  August,  1348.  One  his- 
torian says  that  Edward  gave  the  signal  to  com- 
mence the  great  battle  of  Crecy  by  unbuckling 
his  garter  and  sending  it  to  the  commander  of 
the  opposing  forces,  and,  as  he  came  out  victo- 
rious, he  instituted  the  order  in  memory  of  the 
triumph  his  army  had  won.  Another  account  says 
that,  at  a  grand  ball  given  by  King  Edward  in 
honor  of  the  Countess  of  Salisbury,  the  latter, 
while  dancing,  accidentally  dropped  her  garter, 
which  the  king,  espying,  picked  up,  and,  present- 
ing it  to  the  countess  with  all  the  gallantry  of  a 
Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  said  to  her,  "  Honi  soil  qui 
mal y pense"  A  few  minutes  later,  in  conversa- 
tion with  a  courtier,  he  said,  "  They  would  see 
the  garter  advanced  to  so  honorable  a  distinction 
that  whoever  wore  it  would  consider  themselves 
especially  favored  by  the  honor  conferred."  Sev- 
eral English  writers  unite  in  saying  that  the  order 
was  first  instituted  at  a  grand  tournament  held 
at  Windsor  Castle  in  April,  1355,  at  which  King 
Edward  invited  the  most  illustrious  knights  of 
the  kingdom,  and  that  the  order  was  then  founded 
in  honor  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  St.  George,  and  St. 
Edward  the  Confessor,  and  that  St.  George,  who 
became  the  titular  saint  of  England  by  his  prow- 


256  INSIGNIA    OF    THE    ORDER. 

ess  in  slaying  dragons,  was  considered  its  especial 
protector  and  patron. 

The    insignia  of   the  order  are:    A  dark  blue 

o 

velvet  garter,  bordered  with  gold,  and  fastened 
with  a  gold  buckle  under  the  left  knee.  On  the 
face  of  the  garter,  embroidered  in  golden  letters, 
are  the  words  which  Edward  addressed  to  the 
Countess  of  Salisbury,  and  from  which  the  cele- 
brated motto,  "  Honi  soit  qui  mal y  pense"  owes 
its  origin.  A  broad  silk  ribbon  of  the  same  color, 
with  the  figure  of  St.  George  in  gold  and  dia- 
monds, is  worn  from  the  left  shoulder  to  the  right 
hip.  On  the  left  breast  is  worn  a  silver  star  with 
eight  points,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  the  cross  of 
St.  George,  encircled  by  a  representation  of  the 
garter,  which  bears  the  same  motto.  The  habit 
of  the  order  consists  of  a  dark  blue  silk  robe ;  a 
mantle  of  blue  velvet,  embroidered  with  gold  and 
lined  with  white  taffeta ;  a  hood  of  crimson  velvet, 
bordered  with  heavy  gold  fringe ;  a  hat  of  black 
velvet,  lined  with  white  taffeta,  to  which  is  fast- 
ened by  a  band  of  diamonds  a  magnificent  plume 
of  white  ostrich  feathers,  with  a  tuft  of  black 
heron's  feathers  in  the  centre.  The  collar  of  solid 
gold,  which  clasps  around  the  neck,  consists  of 
twenty-six  pieces,  each  in  the  form  of  the  garter, 
with  a  pendent  figure  of  St.  George  on  horseback 
slaying  the  dragon  attached  to  it. 

By  the  rules  established  by  the  ancient  order, 
but  twenty-four  persons  in  Great  Britain  can  be 


THOSE  WHO  WEAR  THE  ORDER.  257 

knights  at  one  time,  independent  of  the  reigning 
sovereign  and  princes  royal,  and  the  twenty-four 
can  only  be  persons  of  the  highest  rank  of  nobility 
or  men  who  have  performed  great  deeds  of  valor 
for  their  country,  like  Lord  Nelson,  Lord  Napier, 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  etc. 

Outside  of  Great  Britain  they  are  only  allowed 
to  make  knights  of  the  reigning  sovereigns,  dukes, 
and  princes.  Nine  years  ago  there  were  forty- 
eight  Knights  of  the  Garter,  which  included  the 
four  sons  of  Queen  Victoria,  the  Duke  of  Cam- 
bridge, and  the  ex-king  of  Hanover,  belonging  to 
the  royal  family,  and  there  were  the  ex-Emperor  of 
France,  the  Emperors  of  Germany  and  Russia,  the 
kings  of  Italy,  Portugal,  Belgium,  Denmark,  the 
Emperors  of  Austria  and  Brazil,  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Germany,  seven  Ger- 
man dukes  and  princes,  and  twenty-four  British 
peers.  Since  1867,  when  Sultan  Abdul-Azis  was 
created  a  knight,  the  only  two  members  who  have 
been  admitted  to  the  order  are  the  king  of  Spain 
and  the  king  of  Saxony,  who  wore  the  insignia 
for  the  first  time  a  few  days  since.  Three  of  the 
Saxon  sovereigns,  previous  to  this  present  king, 
have  been  invested  with  the  order,  —  the  Electors 
Georg  II.,  in  April,  1668;  Johann  Georg  IV.,  in 
January,  1693;  and  King  Freidrich  August,  in 
October,  1842. 

The  embassy  that  was  sent  to  Dresden  by 
Queen  Victoria  to  perform  the  late  ceremonies 
17 


258  OSTENTATIOUS    CEREMONIES. 

was  composed  of  the  following  distinguished  per- 
sonages :  The  Earl  of  Fife,  Gen.  Sir  Alfred  Hors- 
ford,  Lieut-Col.  Lord  Algernon  Gordon  Lennox, 
Capt.  I.  S.  Winne,  Finsh  of  the  Royal  Horse 
Guards,  Hon.  F.  L.  Bertie,  Sir  Albert  Woods, 
Hon.  E.  Bellasis,  and  Mr.  Cochayne.  The  whole 
party,  including  heralds,  servants,  etc.,  amounted 
to  eighteen  persons. 

The  ceremony,  as  had  been  announced,  took 
place  in  the  elegant  throne-room  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  Previous  to  that  hour  the 
streets  and  open  squares  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  the  royal  palace  were  literally  packed 
with  people  who  had  assembled  to  watch  the  arri- 
val of  distinguished  guests,  and  more  particularly 
the  magnificent  state  carriages  which  were  to 
bring  the  embassy  from  its  headquarters  at  the 
Hotel  Bellevue.  Inside  of  the  palace,  where  deco- 
rations and  arrangements  in  anticipation  of  the 
brilliant  event  had  been  in  progress  for  weeks, 
there  was  much  excitement.  Extra  guards,  in 
bright  uniforms,  were  stationed  at  all  the  street 
approaches ;  squads  of  extra  policemen,  with  side 
arms  and  helmets,  were  patrolling  the  neighbor- 
hood ;  lackeys  and  valets,  in  their  gaudy  liveries 
and  looking  for  all  the  world  like  our  generals  and 
colonels  of  militia  in  olden  times,  were  hastening 
in  and  out  of  the  palace  like  so  many  gay-colored 
wasps  that  had  been  disturbed  in  their  nest ;  sev- 
eral companies  of  grenadiers  were  stationed  in  the 


PROCESSION    OF    ROYALTY    AND    NOBILITY.  2jf) 

court  of  the  palace  and  ranged  in  long  lines  at 
the  foot  of  the  stairs  where  the  guests  were  to 
pass  on  their  arrival  and  departure.  The  throne- 
room  was  gorgeous  in  its  decorations,  and  reminded 
one  of  an  apartment  in  an  enchanted  castle,  of 
which  we  read  in  fairy  tales. 

At  12.55  the  sound  of  trumpets  announced  the 
'approach  of  the  king,  who,  prepared  to  receive  the 
insignia  of  the  order,  wore  a  dark  uniform  coat, 
with  the  decoration  of  a  German  field  marshal, 
white  breeches,  and  shoes.  When  he  slowly  en- 
tered the  room  the  distinguished  guests  present, 
the  officers  highest  in  rank  in  the  Saxon  army, 
the  ladies  of  honor,  court  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
rose  to  their  feet  as  his  Majesty  passed  by  and 
placed  himself  before  the  throne  chair,  on  a  raised 
platform,  carpeted  with  crimson  velvet.  On  enter- 
ing the  room  he  was  preceded  by  the  court  cham- 
berlain, the  chief  court  marshal,  a  number  of  pages 
in  bright  liveries,  the  house  marshal,  and  Count 
Platen.  Following  him  were  his  adjutants,  then 
his  brothers,  Princes  George  and  Frederick  Au- 
gust, with  their  adjutants.  After  these  came  sev- 
eral Saxon  generals,  —  Von  Gersdorf,  the  chamber- 
lain ;  Von  Millitz,  the  master  of  ceremonies  ;  Von 
Burgh,  Von  Erdmansdortf,  Von  Watzdorff,  Von 
der  Planitz,  Von  Leipziger,  Counts  Luckner  and 
Schall-Rex,  and  a  train  of  chamberlains,  while  the 
rear  of  th£  procession  was  closed  by  the  tall,  im- 
posing forms  of  the  three  Counts  von  Arnim. 


26O  WHAT    THEY    WORE. 

On  a  raised  platform,  not  far  from  the  throne, 
were  seated  her  Majesty  Queen  Carola,  the  Prin- 
cess George  and  Princess  Mathilde,  and  Maria 
Josefa,  the  Crown  Prince  Johan  George,  Prince 
Max,  Prince  Weimer,  Prince  Heinrich  von  Reuss 
Kostritz,  with  his  daughter  Princess  Elenora. 
Between  this  platform  and  the  throne  stood  the 
ministers  of  state  in  their  official  dress  and  all 
their  orders  and  decorations,  while  a  number  of 
the  most  prominent  ladies,  wives  of  the  ministers 
and  highest  dignitaries,  grouped  themselves  on 
the  other  side  of  the  platform.  Her  Majesty  the 
queen  wore  a  dress  of  old  gold  brocade,  with  an 
elegant  mantilla ;  Princess  George  wore  a  heavy 
white  satin,  drawn  and  puffed,  with  a  long  train 
of  light  red  velvet,  richly  embroidered  in  silver ; 
Princess  Mathilde  had  a  pale  lilac  satin  dress, 
with  a  train  of  the  same  color  and  material.  The 
trains  of  the  princesses  were  borne  by  the  cadets, 
in  the  well-known  picturesque  costume  of  noble 
pages.  The  ladies  of  honor  wore  the  heaviest 
and  most  expensive  brocade  and  satin  material, 
heavily  trimmed  with  the  richest  of  laces.  All  of 
the  ladies  present,  from  the  queen  down,  wore  the 
most  costly  ornaments,  and  their  heads  and  shoul- 
ders fairly  sparkled  with  brilliants. 

A  few  minutes  after  the  king  and  his  followers 
had  taken  their  positions  in  front  of  the  throne 
there  was  another  blast  of  trumpets  announcing 
the  arrival  of  the  English  embassy.  The  large 


THE   ENGLISH   EMBASSY.  26 1 

door  of  the  throne-room  opened  again  and  the 
envoys  of  her  British  Majesty  marched  into  the 
room  with  the  greatest  dignity  and  solemnity, 
making  profound  bows  to  the  right  and  left  as  they 
approached  the  king.  The  Earl  of  Fife,  a  fine-look- 
ing Englishman  of  about  thirty,  was  in  the  advance, 
clad  in  a  dark  coat  of  armor,  with  a  brilliantly  pol- 
ished cuirass,  over  which  a  cartridge  pouch  was 
fastened  by  a  chiselled  bronze  chain.  Following 
him  was  Sir  Alfred  Woods,  wrapped  in  a  flowing 
red  silk  cloak.  Next  came  the  other  members  of 
the  embassy,  four  of  whom  wore  the  doublets  and 
cloaks  of  the  heralds  of  the  Middle  Ages,  embroid- 
ered with  heraldic  insignia.  The  other  two  wore 
the  red  coats  and  uniform  of  a  general  and  colonel 
of  the  English  army.  The  documents,  seals,  robes, 
and  insignia  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter  were  borne 
by  the  different  members  of  the  embassy  on  pur- 
ple velvet  cushions. 

The  Earl  of  Fife  addressed  the  king  in  French, 
saying  that  Queen  Victoria,  of  England,  in  order 
to  express  her  feelings  of  sincere  friendship  for  the 
king  and  queen  of  Saxony,  and  in  the  hopes  of 
uniting  more  thoroughly  the  bonds  which  bind 
the  reigning  houses  as  well  as  their  countries  to- 
gether, wishes  to  bestow  on  his  Majesty  the  king 
of  Saxony  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  etc.  The  king 
in  fluent  French  briefly  returned  thanks  for  the 
honor  conferred  on  him,  and  declared  himself  ready 
to  receive  the  order.  Another  member  of  the  em- 


262  INVESTITURE    OF    THE    NEW    KNIGHT. 

bassy  stepped  forward  and  handed  the  statute  book 
of  the  order  to  the  king,  in  which  the  duties  of  a 
knight  were  written  in  Latin  upon  parchment. 
The  minister  of  the  royal  house,  Herr  von  Nos- 
titz  then  read  the  "commissorium," — which  was 
handed  him,  —  a  proclamation  of  delivery  in  the 
Latin  language. 

After  another  short  speech  from  the  Earl  of  Fife, 
the  proper  investiture  of  the  new  knight  com- 
menced. First,  the  blue  velvet  garter  was  fastened 
under  the  left  knee  of  the  king,  while  some  Latin 
words  were  being  spoken  by  Sir  Alfred  Woods. 
Next  came  the  robing,  —  the  putting  on  of  the 
mantle  of  blue  velvet,  the  blue  silk  robe,  the  crim- 
son velvet  hood,  the  broad-brimmed  black  velvet 
hat  with  white  ostrich  plumes  and  black  heron's 
feathers,  and  lastly,  the  clasping  of  the  golden  col- 
lar around  the  neck  and  the  buckling  on  the  sword 
of  the  order.  The  work  being  completed,  the 
embassy  withdrew,  going  backward  and  gracefully 
bowing  all  the  time,  until  the  large  entrance  doors 
closed  upon  it. 

The  grandeur  and  solemnity  of  the  scene  will 
ever  be  remembered  by  those  who  were  fortunate 
enough  to  witness  it,  and  no  one  appeared  more 
impressed  by  it  than  the  king  himself,  who,  after 
the  ceremony  was  completed,  stood  in  the  pomp 
of  his  splendid  new  regalia,  with  head  proudly  erect 
and  eyes  full  of  joy  as  he  received  the  congratula- 
tions of  his  faithful  subjects,  who  crowded  around 
him. 


LIKE  A  SCENE  FROM  SHAKESPEARE.        263 

The  whole  scene  made  one  realize  something  of 
the  magnificence  of  the  Middle  A^es.  From  the 

o  o 

solemnity  of  the  ceremony,  the  richness  and  his- 
torical fidelity  of  the  costumes,  the  dignity  of  the 
investure,  an  impression  was  produced  similar  to 
that  of  a  representation  of  a  fine  scene  in  one  of 
Shakespeare's  plays  in  a  court  theatre.  When  the 
English  embassy  appeared  before  the  throne  of 
the  Saxon  king,  one  was  reminded  of  the  scene 
in  the  first  act  of  "  Richard  II.,"  when  the  knightly 
prince  seats  himself  upon  the  throne,  surrounded 
by  his  courtiers  and  noblemen,  and  the  Dukes  of 
Norfolk  and  Bolingbroke  present  themselves  before 
him.  Upon  the  command  of  the  king,  the  marshal 
thus  addresses  them :  — 

"  Say  who  thou  art, 

And  why  thou  com'st  thus  clad  in  knightly  arms  ; 
Against  what  man  thou  com'st,  and  what  thy  quarrel ; 
Speak  truly,  on  thy  knighthood  and  thy  oath  ; 
As  so  defend  thee  heaven  and  thy  valor." 

The  king,  after  receiving  the  congratulations  of 
his  friends,  proceeded  to  his  apartments,  and  made 
no  change  in  his  dress  except  to  put  on  his  accus- 
tomed military  helmet  in  place  of  the  knight's  hat 
with  ostrich  plumes. 

At  five  o'clock  the  gala  dinner  took  place  in  the 
palace,  which  was  attended  by  all  the  royalty, 
nobility,  and  grandees,  ministers  of  state,  generals, 
and  high  officials.  When  the  champagne  was 
served  the  king  rose  and  proposed  the  health  of 


264  CLOSING   ENTERTAINMENTS. 

Queen  Victoria,  and  the  Earl  of  Fife  responded 
by  proposing  the  health  of  King  Albert. 

The  day's  festivities  closed  by  the  king's  going 
with  all  his  guests  who  had  been  present  at  the 
afternoon  ceremonies,  including  the  English  en- 
voys, to  the  Royal  Theatre  —  the  handsomest  one 
in  Germany  —  to  attend  the  new  spectacular 
opera,  "The  Queen  of  Sheba."  On  Wednesday 
night  following,  Gen.  Fabrice,  the  minister  of  war, 
gave  an  elegant  ball,  in  honor  of  the  English 
envoys,  at  his  palace,  and  the  night  after  the 
king  gave  a  magnificent  ball  at  the  palace,  to 
which  all  the  grandees  of  the  kingdom  were 
invited.  Other  entertainments  were  given  in 
honor  of  the  visitors,  and  two  days  after  they  re- 
turned to  "  merry  old  England,"  undoubtedly  well 
satisfied  with  the  splendid  reception  they  had  met 
with  from  the  Saxon  nobility,  and  congratulating 
themselves  that  the  great  expense  attending  their 
journey  and  the  investiture  of  the  king  with  the 
order  of  the  Knight  of  the  Garter  came  out  of 
the  pockets  of  the  British  people  instead  of  their 
own. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AMERICANS  ABROAD.  —  TOURIST  TRAMPS  FROM  ACROSS  THE 
ATLANTIC.  —  SELF-EXILED  AMERICANS.  —  PEOPLE  WITH 
MORE  MONEY  THAN  CHARACTER.  —  CONFESSIONS  OF  MATRI- 
MONIAL EXILES.  —  FONDNESS  OF  GERMAN  OFFICERS  FOR 
AMERICAN  DINNERS  AND  AMERICAN  GIRLS.  —  AMBITIOUS 
AND  INTRIGUING  AMERICAN  MOTHERS.  —  THE  SAD  FATE 
OF  AMERICAN  GIRLS  WHO  MARRY  FOREIGN  TITLES. 

WHAT  surprises  an  American  on  first  com- 
ing abroad  is  to  find  such  a  large  number 
of  his  country-people  living  in  the  continental  cit- 
ies. He  finds  them  colonized  and  scattered  wher- 
ever he  goes,  —  those  who  have  bought  landed 
estates  or  city  houses,  and  those  who  have  taken 
long  or  short  leases  of  their  dwellings  or  flats,  sub- 
ject to  renewals  if  they  feel  disposed.  In  addition  to 
these,  he  finds  a  large  class  who  are  living  year 
after  year  "  from  hand  to  mouth,"  in  second  and 
third  rate  hotels  and  pensions,  —  who  are  con- 
stantly on  the  move  from  city  to  city,  and,  like 
migrating  geese,  are  periodically  changing  from 
a  cold  climate  to  a  warm,  and  from  warm  to  cold. 
The  winters  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  North- 
ern France  are  too  severe,  and  the  summers  in 
Italy  and  Southern  France  cannot  be  endured. 

Gray-headed  old   men,  and    occasionally  gray- 
headed  women  bent  with  age,  without  families  or 


266  AMERICANS  ABROAD. 

companions,  and  seemingly  without  friends,  are 
found  straying  about  the  Continent  like  Wan- 
dering Jews  who  have  no  resting-place  for  the  soles 
of  their  feet.  They  seem  to  be  looking  for  some- 
thing which  they  can  never  find.  They  are  in 
Paris  to-day,  steaming  up  the  Rhine  to-morrow, 
the  next  day  wandering  among  the  old  ruins  of 
Heidelberg  Castle,  next  week  staring  vacantly  at 
the  crowds  of  pleasure-seekers  or  listening  solitary 
and  alone  to  the  music  in  the  Kiosks  at  Homburg 
or  Weisbaden.  A  mysterious  power  seems  to  pro- 
pel them  on.  They  find  no  rest  at  Baden-Baden, 
or  at  the  Swiss  lakes,  or  among  Alpine  scenery. 
They  get  tired  feeding  the  pigeons  at  St.  Mark's 
in  Venice,  and  move  on  to  visit  Florence  or  Rome 
for  the  twentieth  time. 

There  they  begin  their  wanderings,  like  lost 
spirits,  in  the  vast  churches  and  miles  of  picture 
galleries.  Wearying  of  these  familiar  sights  at 
last,  the  invisible  spirit  moves  them  on,  and  they 
next  appear  at  Naples ;  they  are  seen  at  Castel- 
mary,  at  Sorrento,  at  Paestrum,  among  the  ruins 
of  Pompeii,  and  even  on  the  top  of  Mt.  Vesuvius. 
Not  unfrequently  they  turn  up  at  Smyrna  and 
Constantinople.  They  visit  the  Holy  Land  on 
mule-back,  and  go  up  the  Nile  in  dahabiehs,  and 
are  pulled  up  to  the  top  of  the  Pyramids  by  the 
dusky  natives. 

Finding  they  can  go  no  farther,  they  turn 
about  and  drift  slowly  back  to  Paris,  the  holy 


TOURIST    TRAMPS    FROM    ACROSS    THE    ATLANTIC.    26/ 

Mecca  of  Americans,  which  soon  becomes  monot- 
onous to  them  again,  and,  erelong,  they  start  out 
on  their  pilgrimages  once  more  over  the  same  old 
beaten  paths,  and  to  stare  at  the  same  old  famil- 
iar objects.  On  approaching  one  of  these  octo- 
genarians and  disturbing  his  reveries  by  asking 
him  when  he  is  going  to  return  to  America,  he 
will  turn  his  eyes  toward  the  setting  sun  and 
answer  that  he  is  going  by  steamer  next  week,  or 
in  a  few  weeks,  or  next  year,  perhaps.  But  he 


never  goes. 


Nearly  every  continental  city,  and  especially 
Paris,  is  a  sort  of  Botany  Bay  or  Van  Dieman's 
land  for  a  certain  class  of  English  and  American 
patriots  who  have  "  left  their  country  for  their 
country's  good."  It  is  much  more  agreeable  to 
take  a  steamer  and  cross  the  English  Channel,  or 
even  the  broad  Atlantic,  with  its  winter  gales, 
than  to  run  the  chances  of  having  their  pride  and 
feelings  outraged  and  disturbed  by  a  policeman's 
grip  or  a  sheriff's  warrant,  and  the  uncertainty  of 
eating  bread  and  drinking  water  behind  prison 
bars.  So  it  must  not  be  wondered  at  that  Eng- 
lish and  American  society  abroad  is  "  a  good  deal 
mixed  and  a  little  shaky,"  as  stock  operators 
would  express  it. 

Several  years  ago  a  distinguished-looking  Amer- 
ican received  a  good  share  of  social  recognition  in 
the  English-speaking  colony  of  Paris.  He  dressed 
splendidly,  had  every  appearance  of  a  born  gen- 


268  VAN    DIEMAN    PATRIOTS. 

tleman,  though  a  little  — in  fact  a  good  deal  — 
fast,  a  frailty  always  overlooked  in  the  Paris  col- 
ony, and  he  spent  his  money  as  lavishly  as  a 
spendthrift  millionaire.  It  was  afterward  discov- 
ered that  this  dashing  American  was  one  of  the 
most  noted  cracksmen  or  bank  burglars  that  our 
country  had  produced. 

A  long  list  of  similar  cases  could  be  mentioned, 
but  I  forbear. 

It  is  said  that  a  large  share  of  those  who  come 
abroad  ostensibly  for  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren or  for  the  restoring  of  shattered  healths  and 
disorganized  constitutions,  and  who  by  long  ab- 
sence from  their  native  land  virtually  give  up  their 
birthrights  for  foreign  homes,  have  histories  which 
will  not  bear  probing  or  inquiring  into.  Many  a 
quarrel  between  husband  and  wife'  in  America  re- 
sults not  in  divorce,  but  in  living  apart, —  usually 
it  is  the  wife  who  packs  her  trunks  and  crosses  the 
Atlantic  for  a  few  years,  and  perhaps  for  life.  Here 
she  begins  life  anew.  She  avoids  the  publicity  and 
disgrace  of  a  divorce  and  the  scandal  which  its 
trial  is  sure  to  divulge  ;  she  puts  an  end  to  the 
cat-and-dog  life  she  has  led  with  her  husband ;  and 
in  her  foreign  home,  wherever  it  may  be,  she  forms 
a  new  set  of  acquaintances  among  those  who  are 
strangers  to  her  and  her  past  history. 

I  heard  of  five  American  ladies  who  recently  at 
an  afternoon  tea-drinking  had  a  confidential  seance 
over  their  cups,  and,  under  the  stimulating  influ- 


SELF-EXILED    AMERICANS.  269 

€nce  of  hyson  of  bohea,  unbosomed  their  troubles 
to  each  other.  They  had  all  come  abroad  for  an 
indefinite  stay,  leaving  their  husbands  behind  them. 

One  of  them  said  that  her  husband  had  suffered 
an  unjust  persecution  and  was  undergoing  a  cruel 
imprisonment  for  a  few  years,  for  speculating  with 
some  bank  funds  not  his  own,  which  he  intended 
to  have  returned,  but  found  he  could  n't. 

The  husband  of  another  had  proved  himself  un- 
true to  his  marriage  vows  by  taking  to  himself  an 
extra  wife  —  yes,  two  or  three  of  them,  report  said 
—  without  going  through  the  ceremony  of  mar- 
riage. As  for  her  living  on  the  same  continent 
with  him  after  that,  it  was  out  of  the  question. 

The  third  lady  said  that  her  husband,  who  was 
very  wealthy,  had  got  addicted  to  drinking,  and 
had  gradually  become  very  intemperate ;  that  while 
under  the  influence  of  liquor,  which  was  nearly  all 
the  time,  he  had  abused  her  and  treated  her  like  a 
dog;  that  she  would  endure  such  treatment  no 
longer,  and,  being  afraid  of  her  life,  she  had  put 
the  ocean  between  them. 

The  fourth  lady  said  she  was  the  wife  of  one  of 
the  best  husbands  in  the  world,  who  from  small 
beginnings  had  accumulated  a  large  fortune.  They 
had  lived  in  great  style  and  splendor,  and  had  been 
very  happy  together,  but  in  an  evil  hour  her  hus- 
band had  been  drawn  into  speculations  which  had 
proved  ruinous  and  swept  away  every  dollar  in  the 
\vorld.  She  was  then  overlooked  and  cast  aside 


2/O  CONFESSIONS    OF    MATRIMONIAL    EXILES. 

by  those  who  had  enjoyed  her  hospitality  and  pro- 
fessed so  much  love  and  friendship  for  her  in  her 
prosperity.  She  could  endure  anything  but  such 
treatment  and  neglect,  and  rather  than  suffer  it 
longer  she  had  left  her  country  without  regret.  An 
aunt  had  left  her  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  to  live 
comfortably  and  economically  abroad,  while  her 
husband  was  barely  supporting  himself  and  a  young 
son  at  home  on  a  small  salary  as  clerk  in  a  whole- 
sale house. 

The  fifth,  who  had  listened  with  much  amaze- 
ment to  the  foregoing  disclosures,  said  with  much 
feeling  and  emphasis,  that  although  she  had  left 
her  husband  in  America,  she  thanked  God  that 
she  had  left  him  in  the  church-yard,  sleeping  his 
last  sleep,  and  that  she  had  had  a  perfectly  happy 
married  life  to  look  back  upon.  No  family  quar- 
rels or  domestic  infelicities  had  sent  her  across 
the  Atlantic,  but  she  was  here  to  realize  a  dream 
of  her  childhood  in  visiting  the  wonderful  picture 
galleries,  churches,  palaces,  etc.,  with  which  Eu- 
rope abounds. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  American  society 
abroad  is  made  up  of  this  class  of  unfortunate 
females  who  have  sought  refuge  in  a  foreign  land 
from  unhappy  homes.  There  are  plenty  of  the 
"  lords  of  creation"  —  divorced  husbands  and  hus- 
bands not  divorced  —  wandering  over  Europe,  or 
sojourning  in  its  cities  and  towns  for  indefinite 
periods,  for  the  reason  that  their  household  gods 


AMERICAN    REPUTATION    FOR    GOOD    DINNERS.        2/1 

have  been  shattered  and  their  hearth-stones  made 
uncomfortably  hot  by  those  who  at  the  altar 
promised  to  obey  but  would  n't. 

Another  element  of  this  foreign  society  is  a 
class  of  people  who  have  come  abroad  to  reside  in 
order  to  gain  a  social  position  which  they  had 
never  been  able  to  occupy  at  home.  They  come 
as  strangers,  and  it  is  not  known  except  by  acci- 
dent whether  the  money  which  they  usually  spend 
so  lavishly  was  made  crookedly  or  accumulated 
by  some  occupation  or  profession  not  of  the  high- 
est respectability. 

In  Germany  a  man  is  not  worshipped  for  his 
money  as  he  is  in  Italy  or  France,  or  even  in 
England ;  but  what  the  average  German  of  the 
higher  class  does  admire  and  is  willing  to  fellow- 
ship with  is  brains  and  blue  blood,  and  also  a 
good  dinner,  which  his  robust  health  never  fails 
him  in  giving  an  appetite  for.  And  then  the 
Americans  have  the  reputation  of  getting  up  such 
splendid  dinners,  and  they  do  get  up  such  splen- 
did dinners,  and  they  are  so  fond  of  having  them 
praised  and  appreciated  in  this  country,  whose 
highest  civilization  in  cooking  seems  only  to  have 
developed  itself  in  sauer-kraut  and  German  sau- 
sages. 

Through  this  channel  of  the  appetite  the  class 
of  Americans  whom  I  speak  of  catch  their  prey, 
or  rather  draw  together  and  live  in  a  society 
which  is  attracted  more  by  their  good  dinners  and 


2J-  KICH     AMERICAN     GIRLS     IN     DEMAND. 

fine  wines  than  by  the  amount  of  their  brains, 
good  breeding,  or  elegant  manners.  All  of  the 
German  cities  are  so  full  of  army  officers,  in  their 
gay  uniforms  of  various  grades  and  ranks,  that 
the  streets  seem  to  swarm  with  myriads  of  men- 
wasps  of  the  "  yellow  jacket "  or  gay-colored 
species.  These  officers,  as  the  world  knows,  get 
a  beggarly  pay,  —  those  up  to  the  rank  of  captain 
receiving  but  a  trifle  more  than  a  private  in  the 
United  States  army, — hardly  enough  to  pay  for 
their  beer,  and  much  less  for  an  extra  good  dinner. 
Many  of  them  have  private  means  of  their  own 
to  fall  back  upon,  but  the  majority  are  obliged  to 
economize  to  a  degree  that  does  not  allow  of  their 
dining  seven  days  in  the  week  on  Russian  pheas- 
ants or  quail  on  toast.  Can  it  be  wondered  at, 
then,  that  they  are  so  ready  to  accept  the  many 
dinner  invitations  that  Americans  are  continually 
favoring  them  with  ?  As  a  rule,  these  officers  are 
gentlemen  and  well  bred,  and  they  are  not  only 
fond  of  American  dinners  and  lunches,  but  they 
show  an  unmistakable  admiration  for  American 
young  ladies,  especially  those  who  are  handsome 
and  have  lar^e  fortunes  at  their  command. 

O 

A  large  percentage  of  them,  from  the  Emperor 
down  to  the  lowest  ensign,  hold  some  rank  among 
the  nobility,  either  as  prince,  duke,  baron,  or 
count,  and  with  ambitious  American  mothers  who 
have  daughters  in  the  matrimonial  market  these 

O 

titled  officers  are  in  special    demand.      To  have 


AMBITIOUS,    INTRIGUING    AMERICAN    MOTHERS.        2/3 

one  or  more  of  their  daughters  eventually  go 
back  to  America  to  dumfound  and  astonish  their 
American  cousins  with  the  title  of  princess,  duch- 
ess, baroness,  or  countess  is  the  aim  of  their  lives, 
and  to  secure  such  a  blessed  result  all  manner  of 
traps  are  set  and  all  manner  of  subterfuge  re- 
sorted to. 

And  it  is  not  uncommon  that  these  ambitious 
mothers  catch  their  game.  The  traps  which  have 
been  set  with  such  care  so  long,  and  which  have 
been  so  cleverly,  daintily,  and  expensively  baited, 
spring  at  last,  and  the  ambitious  mother  finds, 
when  it  is  too  late,  that  her  daughter  is  wedded  to 
some  mongrel  scion  of  nobility,  a  man  as  desti- 
tute of  morality  as  the  Connecticut  or  Hudson 
River  is  of  whales ;  a  spendthrift,  gambler,  and  lib- 
ertine, who  has  only  married  her  daughter  for  her 
money,  and  who  keeps  her  at  arm's  length  as  he 
would  a  mistress. 

There  have  been  plenty  of  such  "  splendid 
matches"  in  Saxony,  and  in  Wurtemberg  and  other 
parts  of  Germany,  also  in  Italy  and  France,  where 
American  mothers  have  secured  titles  for  their 
daughters  at  the  expense  of  their  daughters'  future 
happiness. 

It  was  not  long  since  that  a  French  count  in 
Paris,  who  had  married  a  wealthy  and  accom- 
plished American  lad)',  was  detected  secretly  pawn- 
ing her  diamonds  and  jewels  to  raise  money  to 
gamble  with  while  she  lay  on  her  death-bed.  He 


274  MARRYING   TITLES. 

had  spent  immense  sums  of  her  money  in  betting 
and  gambling  and  in  living  a  life  of  profligacy, 
and  had  treated  her  so  cruelly  during  their  short 
married  life  that  she  died  broken-hearted.  An 
incident  recently  happened  in  the  kingdom  of 
Wurtemberg  which  caused  quite  a  ripple  in  the 
upper  class  of  society  there  at  the  time.  A  Ger- 
man baron  who  had  started  with  his  American 
wife  to  visit  her  home  in  America  had  got  as  far 
as  the  railway  station  when  he  was  arrested  by 
his  creditors,  who  supposed  he  was  fleeing  the 
country  never  to  return,  for  heavy  debts  which  had 
been  incurred  through  gambling  and  a  dissolute  life. 
He  had  no  means  with  him  to  pay  the  demands, 
neither  had  his  wife,  and,  as  their  trunks  had  been 
sent  on  in  advance  and  the  arrangements  all  made 
for  the  journey,  he  told  his  wife  to  keep  on  and 
he  would  meet  her  in  Liverpool  before  the  sailing 
of  their  steamer,  after  having  made  some  arrange- 
ments with  his  creditors.  The  wife  went  on  to 
Liverpool  and  the  baron  stayed  behind,  but  it  was 
four  or  five  days  before  he  was  able  to  satisfy  his 
creditors,  either  by  promises  or  the  interposition 
of  some  kind  friend,  so  as  to  be  able  to  depart. 

While  thus  detained,  the  pocket-money  his  wife 
had  given  him  to  pay  his  expenses  to  Liverpool 
had  disappeared,  but  another  compassionate  friend 
was  induced  to  loan  him  $500,  by  giving  security 
on  his  wife's  furniture  and  silver  plate,  so  that  he 
was  enabled  to  start  on  his  journey.  Passing 


SAD    EXPERIENCES.  2/5 

through  London,  he  fell  among  gamblers  at  one  of 
the  clubs  who  could  handle  cards  better  than  he 
could,  and  his  $500  quickly  disappeared,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  amount,  just  sufficient  to  take 
him  to  Liverpool,  where  he  at  length  arrived,  to 
find  that  his  wife  had  left  in  a  steamer  three  days 
previous,  and  himself  without  a  dollar  in  his 
pocket. 

Representing  to  one  of  the  steamer  agents  who 
he  was,  and  showing  papers  that  identified  him 
as  being  a  veritable  baron,  he  was  permitted  to 
take  passage  on  the  next  steamer,  with  the  under- 
standing that  his  passage  would  be  paid  at  the 
other  end  of  the  route,  where  his  wife  or  his  wife's 
relations  would  come  to  his  aid,  —  and  which  it  is 
to  be  presumed  they  did. 

An  American  lady  who  married  a  title  in  Sax- 
ony, after  enduring  several  years  of  cruel  treat- 
ment, neglect,  and  misery,  recently  took  sudden 
flight  to  her  friends  across  the  Atlantic,  forsaking 
the  bed  and  board  of  her  titled  husband,  never  to 
return  to  it. 

Such  incidents  as  these  unhappy  marriages  con- 
tracted by  American  girls  abroad  are  constantly 
taking  place,  and  a  record  of  their  histories  and 
the  wretched  lives  that  many  of  them  have  led  and 
are  living  would  fill  volumes.  Marriages  with 
foreigners  which  have  proved  happy,  and  unalloyed 
with  more  or  less  misery,  are  exceptional  and  far 
between. 


2/6  UNHAPPY    MARRIAGES. 

To  those  ambitious  mothers  who  would  sell 
their  daughters  for  a  title,  and  to  those  daughters 
who  would  run  the  risk  of  sacrificing  their  future 
happiness  by  uniting  themselves  to  worthless 
scions  of  nobility,  let  them  heed  Punch's  advice 
to  the  unmarried,  —  "  Don't." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

SLEEPING  AND  EATING  IN  GERMANY. —  FAULT-FINDING,  GRUM- 
BLING AMERICAN  TRAVELLERS. —  SHORT  AND  NARROW  BEDS. 
—  NOT  SATISFIED  WITH  GERMAN  COOKING. —  FRENCH  COOK- 
ING  AT  THE  HOTELS.  —  COST  OF  LIVING  IN  GERMAN  PEN- 
SIONS AND  FAMILIES.  — BREAKFAST,  LUNCH,  AND  DINNER. 

A  MERICANS  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
JLJL  have  acquired  the  reputation,  and  perhaps 
not  undeservedly,  of  being  a  nation  of  brags  and 
grumblers.  They  experience  such  a  great  con- 
trast in  the  comforts  of  life  abroad  as  compared 
with  their  own  homes  and  manner  of  living  in 
America  that  it  is  difficult  for  them  to  keep  from 
expressing  their  sentiments,  as  to  what  their  eyes 
see,  their  hearts  feel,  and  stomachs  crave,  to  every 
foreigner  with  whom  they  come  in  contact.  The 
food,  cooking,  beds,  discomforts  of  railway  and 
steamboat  travelling,  the  high  charges  for  every 
pound  of  baggage,  the  no  end  of  feeing  servants, 
the  cheating  of  the  shop-keepers,  dishonest  guides, 
newspapers,  express  companies,  the  styles  of 
dress,  the  disregard  of  the  Sabbath,  the  treatment 
of  women,  the  miserable  wages  paid  for  every  kind 
of  labor,  the  degradation  of  the  working  classes, 
and  various  other  matters  are  criticised  to  their 
fullest  extent,  and  make  dark,  sombre-looking 


2/8  GRUMBLING    AMERICANS. 

pictures  when  placed  in  contrast  with  what  they 
call  American  comforts  and  civilization. 

One  of  the  first  complaints  heard  from  Amer- 
icans on  arriving  in  Germany  is  against  the  beds  ; 
for  German  beds,  as  a  rule,  are  short,  —  so  very 
short  that  a  man  who  is  unfortunate  enough  to 
measure  six  feet  has  to  double  himself  up  between 
the  head  and  foot  board  like  the  letter  A  in  the 
alphabet.  The  misery  of  this  uncomfortable  posi- 
tion would  not  be  necessary  were  the  beds  of  a 
decent  width,  for  with  a  wide  bed,  even  if  it  was 
not  of  sufficient  length,  he  could  lay  "  cornering," 
or  he  could  turn  over  on  his  side  and  double  up 
without  projecting  his  knees  and  his  feet  into  the 
cold  air  outside  of  the  mattress.  German  beds, 
almost  without  exception,  are  single,  —  very  single, 
—  so  much  so  that  the  occupant,  if  he  attempts  to 
deviate  an  inch  or  two  from  a  horizontal  position, 
finds  himself  sprawling  on  the  floor.  The  sheets, 
bed-blankets,  etc.,  are  made  just  to  fit  the  beds,  and 
are  never  wide  enough  to  "  tuck  in."  They  are 
seldom  but  an  inch  or  two  wider  than  the  mattress, 
and  it  requires  the  skill  and  experience  of  an  acro- 
bat, especially  with  a  foreigner,  to  keep  the  bed- 
clothes evenly  balanced  over  him. 

And  then  the  grumblers  grumble  at  the  pillows, 
which  they  declare  are  either  too  large  or  too  small, 
too  hard  or  too  soft,  and  that  the  only  people 
who  know  how  to  make  comfortable  pillows  and 
who  have  them  are  the  Americans.  Many  of  the 


FINDING    FAULT    WITH    BEDS    AND    COOKING.          2/9 

hotels  and  boarding-houses  in  Germany  adopt  the 
French  pillow,  which  is  about  half  the  size  of  the 
mattress  and  stuffed  out  so  hard  and  plump  that 
the  only  benefit  the  tired  traveller  derives  from  it 
is  to  have  it  serve  as  a  rest  for  his  back  while  he 
sleeps  in  a  sitting  position.  The  majority  of  pillows 
found  in  Germany  are  made  wedge-shaped,  of  the 
same  material  as  the  mattress,  and  come  to  a  point 
near  the  centre  of  the  bed.  On  these  the  sleeper, 
if  he  sleeps,  rests  on  an  inclined  plane,  and  looks 
like  a  dead  body  on  one  of  the  narrow  planks  in 
the  Morgue  at  Paris,  with  a  sheet  thrown  over  it. 
I  think  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  bed  in  this 
country  that  would  measure  over  five  feet  ten,  or 
six  feet  at  most,  between  the  head  and  foot  board ; 
and  as  for  a  wide  double  bed  there  is  probably 
none  in  all  (Germany,  without  it  may  be  the  one  on 
exhibition  at  the  museum  in  Munich,  which  is 
said  to  have  belonged  to  some  king  or  baron  of 
olden  time. 

Americans,  also,  after  crossing  the  French  fron- 
tier into  Germany,  find  as  much  fault  with  their 
food  and  the  manner  of  cooking  it  as  they  do  with 
the  beds,  for  there  is  as  great  a  contrast  between 
German  cooking  and  French  cooking  as  there  is 
between  German  beer  and  French  claret.  When 
Charlemagne  founded  the  German  Empire,  nearly 
eleven  centuries  ago,  he  is  accredited  with  having 
first  introduced  many  of  the  arts  and  sciences 
which  have  made  Germany  so  famous.  Travellers 


28O  COOKING    AND    EATING. 

are  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  if  he  had  paid 
some  attention  to  cooking  and  established  schools 
of  cookery  that  would  have  left  an  impress  on  future 
generations,  his  memory  would  have  been  more 
highly  cherished  than  it  is  now,  —  by  tourists,  cer- 
tainly. Gambrinus,  the  beer  god  of  the  Teutons,  is 
omnipresent  everywhere  in  Germany,  and  is  wor- 
shipped by  the  drinkers,  but  where  is  the  mytho- 
logical deity  that  presides  over  the  kitchens  for 
the  eaters  ?  Cooking  and  eating  are  not  romantic 
subjects,  I  confess,  to  many  readers,  but  they  are 
certainly  subjects  which  interest  a  majority  of  trav- 
ellers as  much  and  perhaps  more  than  sight-see- 
ing. For  how  can  a  hungry  tourist  appreciate  a 
fine  picture  gallery,  a  grand  old  church  or  cathe- 
dral, a  mountain  climb,  or  a  beautiful  landscape, 
with  the  vision  of  a  dinner  staring  at  him  from  his 
hotel  or  pension,  composed  of  potato  or  beer  soup, 
a  pot-pourri  of  several  varieties  of  vegetables  boiled 
to  a  pulpy  mash,  with  a  scanty  portion  of  an  un- 
known meat,  a  black  pudding  made  of  strangely 
tasting  ingredients,  and  the  national  black  bread, 
seasoned  with  fennel  or  anise  seed  ? 

The  moment  the  American  steps  foot  on  foreign 
soil  he  finds  that  he  is  not  only  among  a  new  peo- 
ple, with  new  manners  and  customs,  but  he  finds 
that  what  he  has  to  eat,  and  the  way  in  which  it  is 
cooked,  are  entirely  different  from  his  accustomed 
bill  of  fare  in  his  native  country.  He  also  discovers 
that  the  change  of  scene  and  climate,  the  transfer- 


EUROPEAN    HOTELS.  28 1 

mation  that  his  system  has  undergone  by  his  ocean 
voyage,  have  given  him  a  new  and  hitherto  un- 
known appetite,  which  induces  him  to  devour  with 
a  keen  relish  one  and  all  of  the  strange  dishes  and 
ingredients  that  are  placed  before  him.  It  has 
been  said  with  much  truth  that  many  travellers  see 
the  countries  in  which  they  travel  and  receive  their 
impressions  through  their  stomachs.  It  is  not 
altogether  the  fascinating  Alpine  scenery  and  the 
cool,  delightful  summer  climate  of  Switzerland  that 
draw  so  many  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  tourists  to  that  mountainous  country  every 
year,  but  the  excellent,  well-kept  hotels  and  pen- 
sions, with  their  unexcelled  cuisine,  are  as  great,  if 
not  greater  attractions,  in  drawing  strangers  into 
the  country  and  inducing  them  to  make  long 
tarries  after  getting  there. 

Thousands  of  Americans  keep  out  of  Spain  and 
deny  themselves  the  pleasure  of  visiting  that  in- 
tensely interesting  country,  not  so  much  from  the 
fear  of  the  brigands  and  the  inconveniences  of 
travel,  as  from  the  fear  of  the  Spanish  hotels,  which 
have  a  national  reputation  for  cooking  everything 
in  oil  and  garlic.  The  American  tourist  also 
hurries  through  England  as  quickly  as  possible, 
where  the  hotels,  as  a  rule,  are  very  poor  and  ex- 
orbitantly expensive,  that  he  may  reach  with  as 
little  delay  as  is  necessary  one  of  the  many  model 
hotels  in  Paris. 

It  has  only  been  within  a  few  years  that  travel 


282       GERMAN  COOKING  NOT  A  FAVORITE. 

to  any  extent  has  been  coaxed  into  Germany,  and 
this  has  been  brought  about,  as  Germans  them- 
selves admit,  by  the  improvement  of  their  hotels  in 
discarding  German  cooking  and  conducting  them 
as  near  like  the  French  hotels  as  possible.  In  all 
the  large  cities  and  watering-places,  the  hotels, 
those  which  cater  for  patronage  from  outside  the 
empire's  boundaries,  have  imported  French  cooks 
or  their  cuisine  is  under  the  direction  of  German 
cooks  who  have  served  apprenticeship  under 
French  tutelage.  Pensions,  which  are  also  becom- 
ing as  fashionable  and  numerous,  and  I  may  say 
as  indispensable,  in  Germany  as  in  Switzerland  and 
France,  are  reluctantly  discarding  the  national 
dishes  of  the  country  and  the  cooking  of  their 
forefathers,  and  are  fast  adopting  the  recipes  of  not 
only  the  French  but  the  English  and  American 
cook-books.  They  will,  in  time,  perhaps,  teach 
even  the  French  how  to  cook  a  dinner  properly  ; 
for  when  a  German  puts  on  his  spectacles  and 
sits  down  in  earnest  to  accomplish  a  task,  either 
in  war,  science,  cookery,  or  anything  else,  he  is 
sure  in  the  end  to  be  master  of  the  situation. 

Those  who  come  to  Germany  to  enter  the  uni- 
versities or  to  pursue  any  special  course  of  scientific 
study,  to  take  up  music  or  painting  or  to  learn  the 
German  language,  and  who  think  the  cost  of  living 
a  very  small  item,  find  themselves  wofully  mistaken, 
for  board  in  any  of  the  pensions  or  boarding-houses 
where  they  endeavor  to  cater  to  English  or  Amer- 


WHAT    IT    COSTS    TO    LIVE.  283 

ican  tastes  is  as  expensive  as  in  good  boarding- 
houses  in  New  York  or  Boston,  while  in  either  of 
those  cities  the  boarder  gets  more  for  his  money 
than  he  does  here.  Dresden  is  full  of  pensions ; 
there  are  more,  probably,  than  in  Berlin,  Leipsic, 
and  Munich  combined,  that  are  kept  for  English 
and  American  boarders.  The  average  prices 
charged  do  not  vary  much  from  five  and  six  marks 
($1.25  and  $1.50)  a  day,  and  it  is  seldom  any  dis- 
count is  made  from  these  prices  if  the  boarder 
stays  a  month  or  a  year.  Whatever  he  has  to  eat 
is  given  out  in  rations  with  as  much  exactness  as 
though  he  were  in  State  prison,  or  the  pension  were 
adrift  on  the  Atlantic  with  only  sufficient  food  for 
a  certain  number  of  days. 

The  stereotyped  breakfast  for  one  person  is  a 
very  small  pot  of  coffee,  two  lumps  of  sugar,  a  half- 
gill  of  milk,  and  two  small,  sickly  looking  cold  rolls 
or  biscuit.  The  coffee  has  an  overwhelming  odor 
of  chiccory,  and  the  boarder  can  seldom  squeeze 
two  full  cups  of  the  fluid  out  of  the  little  coffee- 
pot. If  a  boiled  egg  or  two,  or  a  little  fried  ham 
or  cold  meat  is  called  for,  these  luxuries  are  charged 
as  extras,  unless  they  are  stipulated  for  by  paying 
an  extra  price  for  board. 

For  dinner  at  one  o'clock,  which  is  the  great 
meal  of  the  day,  and  which  is  supposed  to  make 
up  for  the  shortcomings  of  the  other  two  seasons 
of  daily  fasting,  there  is  always  soup,  two  courses 
of  meat  (one  a  roast  of  small  dimensions  and  the 


284  BREAKFAST,    DINNER,    AND    TEA. 

other  a  stew  or  a  fry),  one  or  two  kinds  of  vege- 
tables (potatoes  and  usually  carrots),  and  for  des- 
sert there  is  a  poor  imitation  of  an  English  or 
American  pudding  or  some  other  kind  of  pastry. 
The  supper  consists  of  a  few  slices  of  cold  meat, 
occasionally  supplemented  with  fried  veal  or  beef, 
bread,  and  butter,  but  cake  of  any  kind  seldom 
makes  its  appearance. 

Broiled  beefsteaks  or  broiled  meats  of  any  kind 
are  almost  unknown  in  Germany.  The  only  place, 
I  am  told,  where  they  can  be  had  in  Dresden  is  at 
Kneiss's  restaurant,  whose  cook  was  taught  the 
process  of  broiling  by  an  American  tourist  a  year 
or  two  ago. 

Oysters  as  an  article  of  food  are  only  known  to 
the  travelled  German,  and  fish  is  so  rare  and  expen- 
sive that  only  the  better  class  hotels  and  a  few  of  the 
wealthy  nobility  and  gentry  indulge  in  the  luxury. 

The  regular  German  pensions  and  hotels,  those 
that  cater  exclusively  to  the  appetite  of  the  Ger- 
man boarder  or  traveller,  have  an  entirely  different 
menu  from  the  pensions  and  hotels  that  are  kept 
for  the  foreigner.  The  price  of  board  in  them  is 
at  least  a  third  and  sometimes  a  half  less ;  and  if 
the  American  who  is  under  the  necessity  of  econ- 
omizing can  accustom  his  stomach  to  the  primitive 
and  peculiar  style  of  German  cooking,  he  finds  at 
the  end  of  a  few  weeks  or  months,  as  the  case  may 
be,  that  his  expenses  are  much  less  that  he  first 
anticipated. 


GETTING   USED   TO    IT.  285 

In  time,  perhaps,  he  becomes  as  fond  of  German 
cooking  as  Germans  themselves.  Sauer-kraut, 
raw  sausages,  blood  pudding,  raw  pickled  herring, 
the  peculiar  flavored  soups,  and  many  other 
strange  dishes  lose  their  terror  at  last,  and  he 
takes  to  them  with  a  relish  and  an  appetite  which 
he  once  would  have  supposed  impossible. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  SUGAR-BEET  IN  GERMANY.  —  HISTORY  OF  ITS  CULTIVATION 
IN  EUROPE. — THE  PROCESS  OF  MANUFACTURE  OF  BEET 
SUGAR.  —  STATISTICS  OF  THE  QUANTITY  MADE  IN  DIFFER- 
ENT EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES.  —  COST  OF  MAKING,  AND  COST 
OF  MACHINERY  FOR  ITS  MANUFACTURE. 

THE  great  agricultural  industry  of  Germany, 
next  to  the  raising  of  hops,  is  the  raising  of 
sugar-beets ;  and  one  of  the  most  familiar  sights 
that  meet  the  traveller's  eye  in  journeying  through 
the  country  during  the  fall  months  is  the  swarms 
of  peasants  —  men,  women,  and  children  —  in  the 
fields  harvesting  these  familiar-looking  vegetables. 
It  is  an  easy  crop  to  raise  in  Germany,  and  is  sel- 
dom interfered  with  by  the  changes  of  climate. 
Moderate  extremes  of  heat  or  cold,  drouth  or  wet- 
ness, seem  not  to  affect  the  certainty  of  an  abun- 
dant harvest  and  one  of  good  quality. 

The  saccharine  properties  of  the  sugar-beet 
were  first  discovered  in  Germany  as  long  ago  as 
1747,  by  a  German  chemist  at  Berlin  by  the  name 
of  Marggraf,  but  it  was  not  until  1790  that  the 
discovery  was  put  to  a  practical  test  by  erecting  a 
manufactory  for  trying  the  experiment  of  making 
sugar  from  the  beet  on  a  large  scale.  After  long 
and  diligent  labors  and  researches,  and  the  ex- 
pending of  great  sums  of  money  in  experimenting 


THE    SUGAR-BEET    IN    GERMANY.  28/ 

with  various  kinds  of  machinery  and  chemicals 
for  perfecting  the  quality  and  the  color  of  the 
sugar,  it  was  found  that  six  per  cent  sugar  and 
three  per  cent  molasses  could  be  obtained  from 
the  fresh  beets.  The  results,  however,  were  so 
unsatisfactory  that  further  experiments  and  manu- 
facture for  many  years  were  abandoned.  Through 
subsequent  discoveries  of  new  machinery  and  the 
application  of  new  chemicals  in  aiding  and  per- 
fecting the  sugar-making  process,  the  manufacture 
was  resumed,  and  factories  began  to  increase  in 
number,  so  that  in  1836-7  there  were  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  in  operation  in  Germany, 
which  produced  in  one  year  3,112,910  pounds  of 
raw  sugar  from  28,007  tons  of  beets. 

Statistics  recently  published  by  the  German  gov- 
ernment show  that  in  1879  there  were  329  beet 
factories  in  the  country,  and  that  the  quantity 
of  sugar  manufactured  amounted  to  850,856,000 
pounds.  France,  which  is  the  next  largest  in  the 
manufacture  of  beet  sugar,  produced,  in  1879, 839,- 
880,000  pounds ;  Austria  and  Hungary,  750,356,- 
ooo  pounds;  Russia  and  Poland,  457,258,000; 
Belgium,  Holland,  and  other  countries,  210,000,000 
pounds :  showing  that  there  is  sugar  enough 
made  in  these  countries  to  allow  about  ten  pounds 
of  sugar  a  year  to  each  inhabitant  of  Europe. 

In  1836  it  was  found  that  it  took  twenty  pounds 
of  beets  to  make  one  pound  of  sugar,  but  by  the 
new  and  improved  methods,  wherein  improved 


288  STATISTICS    OF    BEET    SUGAR. 

machinery  and  newly  discovered  scientific  princi- 
ples have  been  brought  into  requisition,  it  is  found 
that  a  pound  of  sugar  can  be  made  from  ten  pounds 
of  beets,  besides  leaving  a  good  percentage  of  mo- 
lasses. Some  of  the  manufactories,  in  the  statis- 
tics which  the  proprietors  keep  with  great  accu- 
racy, make  a  better  showing  than  even  this,  the 
results  of  their  year's  labor  showing  that,  on  the 
average,  one  hundred  pounds  of  beet  roots  of  aver- 
age quality  have  produced  eleven  pounds  of  sugar 
and  three  and  one  half  pounds  of  molasses.  To 
make  this  fourteen  and  one  half  pounds  of  sugar 
and  molasses  it  is  found  that  the  whole  cost  of 
manufacturing  amounts  to  forty-three  and  one 
fourth  cents,  which  includes  the  value  of  the  one 
hundred  pounds  of  beet  roots,  valued  at  twenty-four 
and  one  half  cents,  which  would  leave  the  cost  of 
manufacturing  the  sugar,  to  say  nothing  of  the  mo- 
lasses, at  less  than  two  cents  a  pound.  Some  of 
the  statistics  vary  a  trifle  from  these  figures,  but  to 
so  small  an  amount  as  to  make  but  little  differ- 
ence in  the  results. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  a  good  quality  of  raw 
beet  sugar,  including  the  purchase  of  the  beets, 
can  be  and  is  made  for  about  four  cents  a  pound, 
and  after  deducting  the  value  of  the  moalsses  it 
reduces  the  cost  to  less  than  three  and  a  half  cents. 
The  actual  cost  is  made  still  less  when  it  is  taken 
into  consideration  that  the  residuum  or  the  pulp  of 
the  beet,  after  the  saccharine  matter  or  juice  has 


HARVESTING   THE    BEET.  289 

been  pressed  out  of  it,  has  its  market  value  for 
feeding  cattle  and  swine,  and  also  for  manure. 

In  harvesting  the  beets  for  the  sugar  factories, 
they  are  washed  clean  after  being  removed  from  the 
ground  and  kept  from  the  sun  as  much  as  possible, 
in  order  that  they  may  not  wilt  and  prematurely 
decay.  When  thoroughly  dry  they  are  carted  to 
the  factories,  if  they  are  within  a  reasonable  distance; 
if  not,  they  are  taken  to  the  nearest  railway  station 
and  transported  on  open  platform  cars.  During 
the  months  of  October  and  November  these  lone: 

o 

trains,  often  numbering  fifty  or  sixty  cars,  piled  full 
of  white  sugar-beets,  are  to  be  seen  on  all  the  rail- 
ways throughout  Germany,  being  hauled  to  their 
destination  usually  by  two  puffing  little  German 
locomotives.  At  the  factories  the  beets  are  care- 
fully weighed  by  a  government  inspector  before 
being  ground  up  and  going  through  the  process 
of  being  converted  into  sugar. 

The  government  imposes  a  heavy  ad  valorem 
tax  on  the  raw  beet,  which  the  farmer  is  obliged 
to  pay  before  his  beets  go  into  the  hopper.  To 
collect  these  taxes  a  government  official  is  placed 
in  every  sugar  factory,  who  makes  a  full  return  to 
the  royal  treasurer  for  every  pound  of  beets  that  is 
brought  to  the  mill.  The  yearly  revenue  derived 
from  this  one  source  alone  is  something  enormous. 
By  last  year's  returns  over  ninety  million  marks, . 
nearly  $25,000,000,  were  added  to  the  imperial 
treasury. 


IMPORTED    SUGARS    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

But  little  attention  has  as  yet  been  paid  in  the 
United  States  to  the  making  of  sugar  from  beets, 
but  that  it  will,  not  far  in  the  future,  be  the  source 
of  one  of  the  great  agricultural  interests  of  por- 
tions of  the  New  England,  Middle,  and  Western 
States  there  is  no  doubt.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  have  paid  on  an  average  for  the  last 
twenty  years  about  $100,000,000  for  imported 
sugars  yearly,  which  is  nearly  half  the  value  of 
the  whole  cotton  crop  of  the  Southern  States. 
This  enormous  sum,  paid  to  foreign  countries, 
could  be  saved  and  added  to  the  wealth  and  mate- 
rial prosperity  of  our  country  by  making  the 
products  of  the  beet  root  supply  the  place  of  for- 
eign importations.  Both  Germany  and  France, 
instead  of  importing,  export  their  sugars  largely 
to  other  countries  where  the  sugar-beet  is  not  in- 
digenous to  the  soil  or  climate,  or  where  the  lazi- 
ness or  negligence  of  the  people  has  prevented  the 
development  of  this  important  industry. 

To  cultivate  the  sugar-beet  to  perfection  the 
right  kind  of  soil  and  climate  is  necessary.  Great 
Britain  is  too  wet  and  has  too  little  sun  ;  Spain 
and  Southern  Italy  are  too  hot  and  the  soil  too 
clayey ;  parts  of  Russia,  Norway,  Sweden,  and 
Switzerland  are  too  cold,  and  the  seasons  too 
short  for  the  maturing  of  the  roots.  It  is  in  the 
medium  climates  of  Germany,  France,  and  Bel- 
gium, which  resemble  so  nearly  the  climate  of  our 
Northern  States,  that  the  beet  best  adapted  for 


WHERE    THE    BEET   FLOURISHES   BEST.  2C)l 

sugar-making  is  raised  to  the  greatest  perfection 
and  in  the  greatest  quantities.  I  have  summered 
and  wintered  in  Germany  long  enough  to  observe 
that  the  climate  is  almost  the  same  as  that  of 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  many 
of  the  Northern  States.  The  winters  may  not,  on 
an  average,  be  quite  so  severe,  but  they  are  full  as 
long  or  longer,  and  they  have  far  less  winter  sun- 
shine than  we  have  in  New  England.  During 
the  past  winter,  ice  was  gathered  in  Stuttgart  that 
was  twelve,  fifteen,  and  sixteen  inches  thick,  and 
this  in  Southern  Germany,  whereas  in  Northern 
Germany,  where  it  is  much  colder,  the  ice  was 
much  thicker. 

Since  France  has  become  a  republic,  and  the 
burdensome  taxes  for  supporting  the  extravagance 
of  royalty  have  been  removed  to  a  great  extent 
from  the  working  classes,  probably  no  one  class  of 
people  in  the  world  is  at  present  so  thrifty  and 
prosperous  as  the  French  farmers  and  small  land- 
holders. As  regards  money  they  are  "bloated 
bondholders "  on  a  small  scale,  for  scarcely  a 
peasant  can  be  found  who  is  not  the  possessor  of 
more  or  less  government  securities,  besides  having 
comfortable  sums  of  money  stowed  away  at  inter- 
est in  the  savings  banks. 

The  principal  source  of  this  prosperity  with  the 
French  peasants,  as  I  am  assured,  is  the  raising 
of  sugar-beets,  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  one  of 
these  industrious,  hard-working  tillers  of  the  soil 


2Q2  GOVERNMENT    TAXES. 

who  does  not  own  the  land  that  he  tills,  either  one 
acre  or  several  acres,  and  one  of  the  two  or  three 
crops  that  he  annually  produces  is  sure  to  be 
this  familiar  vegetable. 

This  same  prosperity  would  reign  with  the 
German  farmer  or  peasant  were  the  German  gov- 
ernment to  abolish  the  heavy  tax  that  is  at  pres- 
ent imposed  on  these  vegetable  products,  and 
which  comes  almost  directly  from  the  pockets  of 
the  producers.  Were  the  $25,000,000  derived 
from  this  single  revenue  divided  among  or  left  in 
the  pockets  of  the  hard-working  peasants,  it  would 
alleviate  a  great  amount  of  suffering  and  destitu- 
tion that  now  exist,  and  would  retard  the  immense 
emigration  that  is  constantly  flowing  out  of  the 
country.  But  with  such  an  aristocracy  to  keep 
up,  with  so  much  royalty  and  nobility  to  support 
and  maintain,  with  an  emperor,  several  kings,  and 
any  number  of  grand  dukes  and  princes  ruling 
separately  over  every  few  square  miles  of  territory } 
whose  wild  extravagance  and  enormous  expenses 
drain  the  life-blood  of  the  country,  and  with  a 
standing  army  of  half  a  million  of  men,  which  is 
to  be  kept  on  a  war  footing,  the  present  as  well 
as  the  future  prospects  of  the  German  peasant 
are  certainly  deplorable. 

German  farmers  who  have  returned  here  from 
the  United  States  affirm  that  the  climate  and  soil 
of  the  Northern  States  are  better  adapted  to  the 
raising  of  sugar-beets  than  those  of  Germany. 


NEW    ENGLAND    SOIL    AND    CLIMATE.  2Q3 

The  soil,  they  say,  is  new  and  fresh  and  has  not 
been  weakened  and  worn  out  by  the  rotation  of 
various  crops  for  the  last  thousand  years.  To 
keep  the  worn-out  soil  here  up  to  a  proper  stand- 
ard, large  expenditures  for  fertilizers  and  manures 
are  constantly  required,  which  largely  decrease 
the  profits.  They  also  say  that  the  long  Indian 
summer  which  we  have  in  America,  and  which 
they  do  not  have  in  Germany,  is  a  great  auxiliary 
and  a  very  important  element  in  ripening  the  beet 
to  perfection.  Probably  no  one  of  the  Northern 
States  in  its  soil  and  climate  is  so  well  adapted  to 
beet-raising  as  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and,  as 
it  has  plenty  of  wealth  and  enterprise,  there  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  the  pioneer  State  in 
introducing  and  demonstrating  what  is  eventually 
to  be  one  of  the  great  industries  of  the  State 
and  one  of  the  sources  of  our  national  wealth. 
That  there  is  great  profit  in  it,  not  only  to  the 
agriculturist,  but  to  the  manufacturer,  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  for  it  has  proved  a  money-making 
business  in  all  these  foreign  countries.  In  Ger- 
many the  lands  yield  from  twelve  to  twenty, 
and  even  twenty-five  tons  of  beets  per  acre; 
and  in  France  many  of  the  farmers  cultivate  a 
large-sized  beet,  which  grows  partly  above  ground, 
and  yields  thirty  tons  and  over  per  acre ;  but 
these  very  large  beets,  which  are  coarse  and  full  of 
water,  do  not  produce  as  much  sugar  by  half  as 
do  the  small  German  beet,  pound  for  pound.  The 


294  MACHINERY    FOR    SUGAR    MAKING. 

sugar  manufacturers  here  pay  five  dollars  and  six 
dollars  per  ton  for  beets,  and  some  seasons  even 
more ;  and  supposing  that  the  Massachusetts  farm- 
ers were  paid  six  dollars  per  ton,  would  it  not  pay 
them  better  to  raise  beets  on  land  producing 
twelve,  fifteen,  or  twenty  tons  to  the  acre  than  any 
other  crop  they  could  produce  ? 

There  are  several  important  advantages  that  we 
have  in  America  over  the  Germans,  besides  the 
benefit  of  the  years  of  German  study  and  research, 
and  costly  experiments  in  bringing  the  sugar- 
making  process  to  perfection  to  begin  with.  With 
the  newly  improved  and  perfected  foreign  machin- 
ery, in  a  year  from  the  time  the  order  is  first  given 
for  it,  a  mill  could  be  erected  and  the  machinery 
put  in  operation.  M.  Hecht,  a  large  machinery 
contractor  in  Braunshweig  (Brunswick),  Germany, 
makes  sugar-making  machinery  a  specialty  and  is 
prepared  to  execute  orders  for  it,  large  and  small, 
and  also  to  send  competent  men  to  put  it  up  and 
set  it  in  motion  in  any  foreign  country.  I  see  by 
a  price-list  which  he  gives  of  all  the  various  pieces 
of  machinery  and  apparatus  for  sugar-making  in  all 
the  various  processes  it  is  obliged  to  go  through 
in  a  factory  capable  of  crushing  and  working  up 
one  hundred  tons  of  beets  a  day,  he  makes  the  full 
cost  $59,600 ;  and  for  one  that  will  work  up  five 
times  as  much,  or  five  hundred  tons  daily,  at  $142,- 
ooo.  This  includes  everything  but  transportation 
and  setting  up. 


COST   OF    MACHINERY.  295 

By  referring  back,  it  will  be  seen  that  ten  pounds 
of  beet  will  make  one  pound  of  sugar,  and  by  this 
ratio  one  ton  of  2,000  pounds  would  make  two 
hundred  pounds  of  sugar ;  and  a  mill  working  up 
one  hundred  tons  of  beets  daily  would  turn  out 
20,000  pounds,  and  the  five  hundred  ton  mill  100,- 
ooo  pounds  of  sugar.  The  actual  cost  of  this 
100,000  pounds  of  sugar  to  the  manufacturer,  includ- 
ing the  cost  of  the  beets  and  the  working  up,  ac- 
cording to  the  figures  which  I  have  given,  —  and 
they  are  obtained  from  good  authority,  —  at  four 
cents  a  pound,  would  be  $4,000.  On  this  the  man- 
ufacturer, to  make  his  profit,  establishes  his  price 
to  sell  by. 

Most  of  the  sugar  used  in  Germany  is  the  white 
crust  or  loaf,  which  is  refined  from  the  beet  sugar. 
Its  sweetening  qualities  are  not  equal  to  the  sugar 
made  from  the  sugar-cane.  About  the  average 
price  of  it  through  Germany  is  ten  cents  by  the 
one  hundred  pounds,  and  twelve  cents  a  pound  for 
small  quantities.  Brown  sugars  are  used  only  to 
a  very  small  extent. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  on  sugar-making,  I 
would  say  to  any  one  who  wishes  more  information 
and  desires  to  study  up  beet-raising  and  the -beet 
sugar-making  industry,  that  letters  may  be  ad- 
dressed to  J.  S.  Potter,  United  States  consul  at 
Crefeld,  Germany,  to  Geo.  L.  Catlin,  United  States 
consul  at  Stuttgart,  and  to  either  of  the  United 
States  consuls  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  at  Bruns- 


296          REFERENCES  FOR  INFORMATION. 

wick,  Mannheim,  Leipsic,  etc.,  who,  no  doubt, 
would  be  glad  to  furnish  all  the  information  in 
their  power.  All  of  these  gentlemen  have  taken 
great  interest  in  the  subject,  and  have  spent  much 
time  in  gathering  all  the  information  possible  on 
this  important  industry.  The  agricultural  bureau 
at  Washington  should  be  and  probably  is  able  to 
furnish  valuable  statistics  and  information  in  an- 
swer to  letters  addressed  to  it. 


1£  SOUTHERNJ1EGIONAI  LIBRARY  FAOUTY 


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